


Moonlit

by Onyx_Stars



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Eventual Relationships, Explicit Language, Humor, M/M, Mystery, Preboot, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:13:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 90,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2699252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onyx_Stars/pseuds/Onyx_Stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're the one of the bat brood that's working on the vampire case, right?"<br/>It's not a "vampire case", Tim wants to say, but he gets what Jason means. He gives a short nod.<br/>Jason takes a deep breath. There's still something strange about his eyes, but in the dim light and from this distance, Tim can't quite make out what it is. It bugs him, though. Jason runs a hand through his hair and lets out a deep sigh.<br/>"Well, the thing is..."<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. December 1st - The Day Everything Starts Going to Hell (A Bit Too Literally)

**Author's Note:**

> Since the days in the fic are the same as the actual days, the better parts come later. So stay strong and read on! owo

11:26 pm

It’s December the first, and it’s cold as fuck in Gotham.

But the nice thing about the city, Tim thinks, is that he’s never out of work. Like last week, for example. For some obscure reason, the Mad Hatter decided that the last week of November is just about the perfect time to abduct people. Then Scarecrow was apparently of the opinion that four weeks after Halloween is just as good a time as any to break out of Arkham.

And during all that, the Red Hood has been up to… something. To be more exact, he’s done _nothing_. No fights, no provocations, no violent outbursts, which probably means that he’s up to something big.

Tim would sure sleep a lot better if he only knew what that something was.

Now that Hatter and Scarecrow are back in Arkham, he thought that maybe he could look into that, but no, of course not.

It’s a murder spree that’s caught his attention.

People die in Gotham, sure, but over the last few weeks a pattern has been developing. Blood drained, bite marks, usually about half a dozen per body. And it’s so widespread and oddly timed that it can’t possibly be just one person.

Probably a cult of vampire-wannabes. There’s been something along those lines before, if Tim remembers correctly. Crazy priests, some sort of Satanic Lord, a whole sect of people believing that following their “dark master’s” laws and “feasting on mortals” would make them immortal.

Tim just hopes it’s not them again. He was with the Titans at the time, but Dick looked sick for weeks after taking them down.

Not to mention that almost-cannibals are really creepy, even for Gotham.

~*~

Jason is… not happy, to say the least.

He’s not unhappy, per se, but also not happy. It’s… complicated, okay?

There are murders piling up, and while that’s really not a new thing, it’s certainly not common that the bodies appear to be bitten. By _people_.

Just when he thought he’s seen Gotham’s worst.

Usually he wouldn’t bother with it. A lot of people get murdered, the bats will see to it that these particularly gross murders get stopped; it’s not his business.

And hey, he’s really not doing too bad. He’s got his own turf carved out for him, and he and the rest of his so called “family” don’t try to kill each other anymore. That wasn’t really a big change on their part, he admits, but they mostly leave each other alone.

Except now the dead bodies appear in his parts of town, too.

Jason knows what happens on his streets. Or, at least he thought he did. The two bloodless, mangled corpses in the dumpster in front of him make it quite clear he doesn’t.

Hell, he doesn’t even know how they got here. He’s pretty much got the entire alley wired with cameras because it’s close to the bats’ routes.

He’s just about to go closer - there have to be DNA traces with all those bites - when he feels something pressed between his shoulder blades.

~*~

"Step away from the bodies," Red Robin growls, voice low and muscles tense with anticipation.

A rough laugh, distorted and metallic through the helmet, rips through the almost-silence in the alley.

"Now, Timmy, do you really think you can threaten me with a staff?" the Red Hood mocks, and even though Tim tries to be prepared, Jason manages to grip the end of his staff and whirl around.

Tim wrenches free and backs away, staff raised, but… Jason doesn’t retaliate. Odd. Tim narrows his eyes.

At least Hood has the decency to take off the helmet, red domino mask over his eyes already. He’s probably learned from that one time Tim managed to hit the bo staff against the helmet. That can’t have been too pleasant.

Of course, hitting Jason’s head full force without the helmet would be even more effective, but… A bit too violent for Tim. He doesn’t want to accidentally kill his predecessor, and judging by that infuriatingly wide grin, Jason knows that.

"Relax, _Replacement_ ,” Jason draws out the world and it makes Tim’s skin crawl, makes him tense even more in anticipation of the attack that _has_ to come, that always comes when Jason goes down that track.

"What do you know about these murders?", he asks, trying to sound business-like and calm, trying not to sound as if he’s planning how to best take the taller man down.

"What, you don’t think I did it? I’m really flattered." Jason’s still grinning and Tim doesn’t like it, doesn’t like it at all how smug and confident he sounds because it probably means Jason’s got something nasty up his sleeve.

He takes a deep breath. Calm. Focus. “What do you know?” he presses again. It’s true. He doesn’t particularly suspect Jason of joining cults or drinking blood. But he also has to keep in mind that Jason might be working with… whoever does that. And the Red Hood’s not exactly known for reasonable or humane behavior. Add to that that Jason hasn’t really denied any involvement, and that gets him a really ugly picture.

Jason’s eyes narrow under his mask. “You think I’m in on this?” he asks, and this time his voice is a growl, low and angry. Tim would be glad about the sort-of-confirmation that Jason’s not involved, if the older man didn’t look so much like he was about to attack him, shoulders tense and squared, fingers twitching to form fists. “You think I would- Those are _kids’ bodies_!”

Tim takes a cautious step back, raising his staff higher. “I seem to remember you being quite fine with killing people randomly when you were-“

"When I was what? ‘Crazy?!’ I don’t just start murdering kids because you all think I’m insane!" Jason is shouting now, fists tight, and feet - unconsciously or consciously - slipping into a fighting stance.

And Tim knows he shouldn’t let this escalate, but damn it, Jason’s lying to himself here. “Oh, really?” he hisses, adjusting his grip on his bo staff as he sees Jason twitch. “And what exactly were you trying to do then when you tried to _slit my throat_ the last time I let my guard do-“

Tim doesn’t get farther than that because Jason charges at him. Dodging the first few blows is easy, even though it’s close every time. But then Jason full out ignores the hit Tim places on his arm with the staff. _He must’ve changed his armor, his arm should be numb_ , the thought flashes through Tim’s mind. He’s sure he hit the correct spot, but it distracts him enough that Jason’s next hit grazes his hand, and suddenly Tim’s staff is clattering to the ground.

Tim tries to move closer. Without the staff, his best chance is to get so close that Jason can’t get any good hits in, but it’s difficult with the long arms swinging towards his chest and head.

Jason looks angry, furious even with the mask overshadowing his eyes, and maybe if Tim’s lucky, he can use that to his advantage. He twists and dodges until they’ve switched places. His staff should be right behind him; if Jason thinks he doesn’t know that-

Jason tries an uppercut that Tim back steps, foot landing on the staff. He drops to the ground as expected, and Jason moves right in, thinking he has Tim down. Tim can see the triumphant smirk twitch across Jason’s lips, and that’s what he was waiting for. Just before he hits the ground, he turns, catching his fall and sweeping Jason’s legs out from under him.

Tim grips the staff, twisting back up to hit Jason’s stomach, but somehow, Jason’s managed to turn while falling, and now he’s grabbing Tim’s ankles and making him stumble. The back of his head hits the pavement, the pain and impact disorienting him for a moment, just long enough for Jason to get the upper hand.

He feels himself get pulled up, then thrown back down, or maybe it’s against a wall- everything’s still spinning. His head’s shoved against something cold and hard again, and Tim thinks he’s going to faint, but then the onslaught stops.

He blinks, still dizzy. A double ‘click’, cool metal and a weight around his right wrist. Jason’s handcuffed him to something, he realizes, and he’s finally about to get his orientation back when he’s pulled up by his throat.

Breathing gets a bit difficult, and Tim tries to pull himself up a little more, but his right arm can’t move that far, so he’s scrabbling around quite helplessly with his left hand. The spinning in his head finally stops, and Tim opens his eyes, focusing back in on the world, only to see Jason directly in front of him.

The eyes beneath the red mask still look twisted with anger, and with his free hand, Jason’s pressing a knife to the few inches of Tim’s throat that he’s not squeezing.

Tim feels cold dread well up in him.

Jason…

Jason wouldn’t just kill him here… right?

He knows Jason doesn’t aimlessly murder people when he’s in his right mind. But, is he in his right mind now?

It’s not like he hasn’t tried to kill Tim before. Maybe that’s what he was working on: Another attempt to get rid of his “replacement”. Tim doesn’t actually _know_.

For a few long moments, Jason just stares at him. Tim’s already trying to plan his way out of this. It’s difficult with Jason standing so close, but should Jason actually try to kill him, he doesn’t really have any choice; he needs to try everything. Should Jason try to kill him though, he’s dead before he can do anything at all.

Reckless. He should never have engaged; the others probably don’t even know where he is.

Jason’s still looking at him, and Tim doesn’t have any idea what for. It’s like he’s being studied, but he doesn’t know-

Does Jason want to kill him? Does he see the fear bubbling up in Tim’s stomach? Does he want Tim to be afraid, to consider the option that Jason would just slit his throat right here and now-

A shrill, high-pitched scream tears through the night.

Jason looks into the direction it came from, and Tim would, too, if he could move his head and wasn’t otherwise occupied. He twists up, manages to kick his leg against the arm Jason’s holding the knife with, his other leg readying to knee Jason in the stomach, the crotch, _anywhere_ , but then the taller man’s already backing away on instinct.

The Red Hood looks back at him, gaze twisting from Tim to the cuffs to the knife that’s now lying on the ground before he turns around and runs to where the scream came from.

Tim watches him leave. His breathing is completely off, he notices. Jason disappears from his line of sight, and then his knees just… give out under him.

Tim slumps to the ground. The handcuffs on his right wrist dangle against the metal pipe the other ring’s fixed to. Tim notices the cuffs are similar to the ones he and the rest of the bats use; cracking them shouldn’t even take half a minute-

He sucks in a trembling breath of cold night air.

The knife’s still right next to him, blade dull and dark. There’s a bit of blood on it.

Tim feels for his throat. There’s a little cut there, very shallow. Nowhere near as deep as the scar right next to it, the one that’s burn is now reminding him of the last time Jason held a knife to his throat.

Well, and here he is, still alive and kicking, he reminds himself.

Tim gets up and starts working on the cuffs.

~*~

By the time he makes it to the alley that he thinks the scream came from- secluded and dark, just like the one he came from; really, what are people even thinking when they walk into those?- the Red Hood’s not there. Tim can’t help but feel relieved.

There is, however, a woman. Curled in on herself, trembling badly.

Red Robin moves closer carefully, making sure his steps are loud enough for her to notice him.

The woman looks up. Her jacket’s pulled down, just barely hanging on one wrist, but Tim can’t see any injuries. She looks like she’s in her early thirties, Asian, dressed like she came from a club. She’s crying, and the mascara has drawn black stripes down her cheeks.

After checking if she’s actually alright and not hurt, just a bit traumatized, Red Robin makes sure she gets to a hospital. Asking her questions hasn’t given him much.

She was attacked by a young woman. She called the attacker a “vampire, trying to suck her blood,” which doesn’t add up with Tim’s theory of groups or a sect. After she’d screamed, the Red Hood appeared, and then pursued the alleged vampire.

By now, however, both the Red Hood and the “vampire woman” are gone, and no matter how long he looks, Tim can’t find either one.

It’s way past midnight, anyway. Maybe going through the police reports and autopsies again will get him something.

~*~

11:54 pm, December 1st

The Red Hood jumps. He barely makes it over to the next roof, and he has no idea how that woman in front of him managed to make that distance.

She doesn’t move like anyone he’s seen before. She’s too small, too short for the kind of movements she makes. She just does it anyway. Jumps further and higher, runs faster and longer than Jason thinks even he can. Maybe she’s a metahuman; that would explain it.

Still, she apparently doesn’t know the city like Jason does because she just jumped straight down into a dead end, and climbing those walls back up should be impossible even for her.

Or maybe it’s a trap.

Then again, Jason’s pretty sure he can handle her. He lands on the ground as well.

The woman’s standing at the end of the alley, her long red dreadlocks swishing through the air as she turns around. Pale green eyes focus on him, and Jason’s actually quite amazed no one’s given a description of her yet, because there’s a complicated black tattoo all over the right half of her face, and that _should_ make her quite distinguishable. She seems to be in her mid-twenties, pierced ears, pale skin, wearing a leather jacket. And then there’s that knowing smirk on her lips, as if everything’s exactly how she planned it.

Trap it is, then.

"So, let me guess. You can tell me something about the murders that have been happening here recently?" he starts, cocking his gun and carefully moving closer.

The woman doesn’t answer, just smiles at him knowingly. Her posture is entirely relaxed; it’s like she doesn’t feel threatened at all. Jason doesn’t like it.

Jason’s eyes narrow. “Answer me. What are you and those other wannabe-vampires up to?”

Her smile gets wider, a smirk even, white teeth glinting even though the moon’s still hiding behind dark clouds. “‘Wannabe-vampires?’ Oh, I think you misunderstand,” she hums, voice light and amused. She suddenly moves towards him.

Her speed is more than an average human should be capable of, but Jason should still be able to push her back. Should, but isn’t because he hasn’t anticipated the strength that her thin little arms really shouldn’t possess.

Up so close her eyes look really odd, it’s not the tattoos but something else. And Jason can see a strange necklace, a wide leather band around her throat that has ‘Cornelia’ written on it, with a pitch black tear-shaped stone attached to it. If that’s actually her name, Jason’s going to have a meltdown. He has not been looking for someone with a half-tattooed face and her name spelled out on her clothes, right?

Before he can even do so much as push her off, she’s pushed him back against a wall and torn away the protection at his throat. Struggling against her does nothing to get her away from him; no matter what Jason tries-

He tries reaching for his gun again, but his hand has barely twitched towards it when the weapon’s already clattering to the ground.

The woman leans in, and Jason’s confused for a second because her eyes have suddenly gone from green to black. “Hmm… You should do,” she hums, smirking.

Then she leans even closer and Jason can’t focus on anything anymore, because-

He feels her teeth sink into his neck.


	2. December 2nd - The Day Jason Tries To Be A Pacifist (For All The Good That Does)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason takes a deep breath. There’s still something strange about his eyes, but in the dim light and from this distance, Tim can’t quite make out what it is. It bugs him, though. Jason runs a hand through his hair and lets out a deep sigh.
> 
> "Well, the thing is…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of amazed that people are already reading and enjoying this. Thank you so much for letting me know! owo

3:18 am

So far, staring ot the photographs he got by hacking into the autopsy reports hasn’t helped Tim to understand things. Like. Not at all.

The bite marks are from different people - a _lot_ of different people - which brings him back to his sect theory. What else would explain sixty different people suddenly trying out the taste of human blood?

There have been DNA traces, too, of course. Dozens of them. The problem is: They don’t give him any leads, either. More than half of them couldn’t be identified at all. And the ones that do get identified…

Well, they’re even more of a mystery.

Dead people. Missing people. Homeless people. All of them disappeared, off the grid for any time ranging from weeks to decades. And from all over the damn states, too.

It doesn’t make any sense at all.

His eyes burn, and Tim reaches up to rub over them, to get rid of the annoying flickering in his vision. Why does he feel so damn tired? He just slept ten hours at once yester…week.

Okay, so maybe he hasn’t slept all that much over the last two or three days, but he really hoped that at some point, his body would get used to the lack of sleep. After all, he can’t go lie down and do nothing for eight hours every damn day when he’s responsible for getting things like this to stop.

But he doesn’t think staring at the data will get him anywhere right now, so maybe heading to bed isn’t that bad of an option. He might even manage to sleep for a full six hours before he needs to go to Wayne Enterprises; that’s actually really-

He almost doesn’t notice the barely-there movement in the shadow, but fortunately he knows the shades in his own apartment, and he has one of the sharp-edged throwing disks out and ready the next second.

"Show yourself," he hisses. And then…

Then fucking _Jason Todd_ has the audacity to move his face out into the light. He’s not wearing his mask anymore. His eyes look a little odd before he raises his hand to shield them from the sparse light Tim’s lamp produces, and he lookes suspiciously unaggressive.

What the hell does he want?

Dozens of theories instantly fire up in Tim’s brain, from Jason trying to finish the job of killing Tim - which is unlikely - to Jason apologizing - which is even more unlikely. One idea crazier than the other, because…

Well. There is no _logical_ explanation at all for Jason being here.

Jason shouldn’t even have been able to get in here without Tim’s alarm system firing off.

"What do _you_ want here?”, Tim growls, gripping the throwing disk tighter. He would feel a lot more comfortable with his armor or bo, but today of all days he changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, and now his equipment is across the room. Behind the person that rings about every warning bell ever set up in Tim’s brain.

Jason - apparently having adjusted to the light, but still squinting a bit - raises his hands. In defense, one would say, but Tim’s been sucker-punched often enough to know that’s not what this is. The outlines of guns, knives and all other kinds of weaponry are still clearly visible beneath the leather jacket and combat pants.

"Relax, Timmy," Jason drawls, and it’s so close to what he said earlier tonight that it makes the hairs on the back of Tim’s neck stand up. "I’m not here to fight."

Yeah, _right_.

"Don’t lie to me. What do you _want_?” Tim hisses. More weapons would be great, really. He feels naked in his thin clothes. And reaching for the things hidden in the drawer of his desk won’t go unnoticed.

Jason looks a bit put off at Tim’s attitude - and isn’t that just ironic?- but actually remains calm. _Fake_ -calm, Tim reminds himself. “You’re the one of the bat brood that’s working on the vampire case, right?”

It’s not a “vampire case”, Tim wants to say, but he gets what Jason means. He gives a short nod.

Jason takes a deep breath. There’s still something strange about his eyes, but in the dim light and from this distance, Tim can’t quite make out what it is. It bugs him, though. Jason runs a hand through his hair and lets out a deep sigh.

"Well, the thing is. I got bitten."

Tim just… stares at him.

"Come again?" he asks, dumbfounded enough that he can’t even get angry about the bullshit that Jason is trying to make him believe right now.

"I’m… I got bitten," Jason repeats, looking a bit sheepish and embarrassed as he admits it, but it still sounds just as ridiculous.

It takes Tim another moment to snap out of his stupor, but then he manages. “ _Fuck you_ ,” he spits. “After all the shit you pulled tonight, you actually dare come into my home and then tell me this kind of bullshi-“

"I’m not lying to you!" Jason yells, a hint of desperation sneaking into his expression. "Look, just, I-"

He takes a step towards Tim, and Tim automatically takes one back, the back of his thighs hitting his desk. Jason seems to realize his mistake, because he raises his hands again, and then moves closer, very, very slowly.

Tim’s whole body tenses. What the hell is Jason trying to pull now? When is he going to turn this insane conversation into a fight; is he going to attack high or low, kick or punch, left or right-

"Just… Just look. Okay?" Jason’s voice sounds a little rough and _off_ , Tim can’t even pinpoint what it is, but then it suddenly hits him that Jason’s trying to sound _calming_.

Calming. Jason Todd. Trying to calm _Tim_ down.

Jason’s very much too close now, and Tim’s just about to go for the secret compartment in his drawer- a few small blades would help him feel so much better- but then… Tim doubts the input his eyes feed him for a moment.

But…

Jason’s teeth haven’t always been this long, have they?

It’s actually just the canines. They look longer than before, definitely. Not unnaturally so, still in human proportions, but bigger than average for sure. And - this is the really disconcerting point here - _certainly bigger than they were before_.

As far as Tim knows teeth don’t just suddenly grow in a few hours.

And now that Jason’s so close, he can also see the eyes and what’s bothered him about them before.

The pupils are _slitted_.

Like a cat’s. And unless Jason’s wearing contacts in order to extensively fuck with Tim’s mind, this is… All of this is…

Tim doesn’t even know what it is.

The pupils are tiny, tiny slits, until Jason holds a hand up to block out some light from the lamp - Tim almost flinches back from the unexpected movement - and then they get really wide, swallowing up the entire iris and then som, until Jason’s eyes look almost black.

It only takes about a second, then Jason’s twisting away, swearing under his breath about the light burning in his eyes.

Tim still can’t quite believe it.

"You think you turned into a vampire," his mouth states, his mind still trying - and failing - to wrap around that fact. Sure, they deal with a lot of weird stuff in Gotham, but this is… new.

Jason nods, blinking between his fingers a few times before taking his hands down. The pupils are back to tiny slits, the difference to the round form they had before almost unnoticeable. “That girl… the one who attacked the woman that screamed. I underestimated her. She was… too fast and too strong, more than she should have been. And then…”

Jason stops talking up at that, and Tim gets why. He can’t believe it himself. “She bit you. And that turned you into a vampire,” he finishes, his brain still struggling to disagree with the words that leave his lips.

The taller man nods at him, finally stepping back a little, and Tim relaxes - if only just by a little bit. “Yes.” He almost whispers the word. Then he looks up, slowly. “That’s why I… I need your help.”

Tim feels like repeating his previous ‘come again’, but then decides not to grace that with an answer at all.

Jason squirms at the blunt silence, starting to ramble on. “Look, I don’t like it either. It’s just, we don’t know shit about vampires, and I can’t do this on my own. I don’t know if I need to drink blood now or some shit, or if yes, how much, or if garlic’s going to be my kryptonite now, or if I’ll turn to dust the moment I step into the sun or- _fuck_ , I really hope I don’t glitter-“

"Get out," Tim orders tonelessly, which makes Jason stop and look at him. Surprised and confused first, then it slowly morphs into indignation, then anger.

"Tim, don’t be like that-"

“ _Get. Out_ ,” Tim hisses again, with emphasis on each word this time. The scar and the fresh cut on his throat burn. His fists are clenched so tight around the throwing disk that he’s going to make himself bleed if he’s not careful. “I don’t know what makes you think that you can come here for my goddamn _help_ , after what you did just this night, after what you did before-“

"C’mon, Tim; you’re already working on the case and I’m not going to ask Bruce or Dick or-", Jason cuts in, but Tim’s not about to be stopped.

"Sure, I’ll help you. Why not, you only tried to _kill me_ the last two times I did-“

"Get over it already! I know I did some stupid shit-"

” _’Some stupid shit’_?! You tried to _murder me_. Multiple times!”

"But I haven’t in months; come on now, I wouldn’t-"

"And then what was that tonight?!"

"Jesus, fuck, I cuffed you! I wouldn’t have cuffed you if I wanted to kill you afterwards! That was just-"

"Well, guess what, Jason?" He’s shouting by now, and so is Jason, both too agitated to care, no time to catch their breaths, no time to think about what he’s saying, arms and shoulders trembling in no longer supressed anger. " _I didn’t fucking know that_.”

"I-", Jason starts again, but stops. The dawn of _something_ spreads over his expression, but Tim really doesn’t care anymore.

Tim takes a deep rattling breath, and then continues. Quieter, but still just as furious. “I didn’t know. I had _no fucking idea_ if you were just going to kill me right then and there. Because in case you don’t remember or try to tell yourself differently, you’ve tried that before - the last time I agreed to help you, to be exact. So, no. My answer is no. Get out of here and do whatever the hell you want, but _leave me. Alone_.”

Jason looks at him silently, shock and surprise and the beginning of understanding in his face. His mouth opens as if he wants to say something, but then he closes it again. He turns around, doesn’t look back when he leaves Tim’s apartment, moving more quietly than any human should be able to do, still not triggering the alarm.

Tim waits, staring at the window for he doesn’t know how long. The throwing disk clatters as it hits the ground, startling him because he didn’t realize he dropped it. His hands are still shaking, his breathing’s still not calm-

Fuck.

Tim pulls his Red Robin suit back on and leaves the apartment, changing routes and disguises multiple times on his way to a different safe house. One that not even Bruce knows about, meant for extreme emergencies.

He knows, technically this doesn’t qualify as one, but. But.

He doesn’t feel safe in the apartment anymore. Jason got in, and he didn’t even _notice_.

This one, no one can find. Tim reworks the security system for almost half an hour until he thinks it can pick up even… Jason. The new Jason.

By the time he drops onto the small, hard mattress, still wearing the Red Robin suit, it’s almost 6 am.

Tim’s so fucking tired, his eyes are burning from the lack of rest, but he just can’t make himself close them. They’re still fixed on the one window leading outside.


	3. December 3rd - The Day Jason Gets Himself an Unexpected Snack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The smells of people are the same as before, but they got more alluring. A bit like the smell of fresh bread at a bakery. They still smell like people, but suddenly it makes Jason want to have a little… taste.
> 
> Not that he’s going to. Hell, he could stand in bakeries without suddenly attacking the croissants, couldn’t he? This is hardly any different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today we're starting to have actual plot. Yay! \\(ouo)/

04:08 am

Jason has slept about three or four hours over the last two nights. The funny thing is: He still feels well rested. Not the bat-“I’ve got enough caffeine in my system to not break down in the next two hours”-rested, but the actual, real “I got enough sleep to not be tired”-rested.

It’s… weird.

He does see the advantages that gives him, really, but it’s still odd. And more so, it makes it all that much more real that he’s… different now.

He still doesn’t want to use the v-word.

But unconsciously, his tongue slips over his now longer canines. He’s kind of amazed that he hasn’t accidentally bitten himself yet. And- another nice bonus- he can still eat.

Like, normal human food.

When he first felt hungry after… being bitten, he’d had a small nervous breakdown. But he did, in fact, not feel compelled to suddenly attack any people. He got himself a pizza, and after eating it, his stomach stopped grumbling. Jason’s never been this happy about having a full stomach before.

It’s not like he _wants_ to go out and suddenly start eating people, after all.

But there are some other things, and they are definitely not so great. He still hasn’t dared to go into the sunlight. It’s December in Gotham. He only needs to hide away for a few hours, but it still bothers him.

Extensive research was… very unsuccessful.

It’s not that there isn’t anything on vampires. It’s just that there’s too much and at least half the stuff contradicts itself. Figures. The point is, until Jason knows if sunlight will make him burn or turn to dust or glitter, he’s going to stay far away from it.

His reflexes have become better; he’s noticed when he is out at night. He’s also faster and stronger. Not on Superman’s level- nowhere near it- but it’s a definite improvement from before and also way beyond what a normal human would be able to do.

Which leaves him with the last, big fat point on the con list.

The blood.

His own… transformation was the last thing needed to convince him that the recent murders have actually been committed by vampires.

The question is: Since normal food obviously is enough for him, why would they even go so far as attacking people, much less killing them? Of course, maybe the other vampires have all been crazy serial killers even before they were turned, but somehow, Jason doubts that.

Maybe human blood tastes especially good or makes them stronger. It’s not like Jason can find out. He’s not going to actually suck someone’s blood, that much is clear.

Maybe human blood tastes especially good or makes them stronger. It’s not like Jason can find out. He’s not going to actually suck someone’s blood; that much is clear. He’s promised himself that.

He’s got a few packages of his own blood for emergency transfusions, but just smelling it almost made him puke. Jason assumes that’s either because it’s his own, or because it isn’t “fresh”, or because… Well, maybe all the people writing about vampires got something really wrong because blood is even more disgusting than it was before.

Investigating the murders now has a whole new meaning. Finding the other vampires- especially the woman who turned him- is really important. He’s sure they knew more about his new abilities than he does, and he also needs to stop them from killing people, obviously. Not the mention he needs to get behind that blood mystery.

What really sucks, though, is that he can’t find the woman. One would think that looking for someone with long red dreadlocks and a tattoo across half of their face would be fairly easy, especially if you know their name, but… no one’s seen her. It’s like she disappeared _entirely_.

Teaming up with someone from the bats would be a huge help on that part, but… Well.

He’s not going to talk to Bruce; no one wants that catastrophe to happen. Dick would go to Bruce, which means he’s also not an option, not to mention that they’re still not on the best of terms. Cass would be an option, but she’s onto something big in Hong Kong, as far as he knows. Oracle would probably- just like Dick- tell Batman, and Batgirl is mostly out of the city right now, something with the Teen Titans. The demon spawn was never an option to begin with, which leaves him only with…

Tim Drake.

But Tim’s made it pretty clear that he’s not interested in collaboration, and…

Well, Jason has to admit after thinking back to their fight, he kind of could have handled things better. He got angry, which still happens a lot- excuse a guy for being upset that he’s suspected of murdering _children_ \- and that thing with the knife was…

It was meant to underline his victory, a bit of gloating and intimdation, but he has to admit that from Tim’s point of view, it… It could have looked like something else.

Fucking hell.

Jason regrets the two times he actually tried to kill the replacement, okay? And maybe he didn’t really think things through two nights ago. But…

But Tim’s always tried to work with him until now, again and again, and now that he’s lost that minimal trust- not lost, Jason _broke_ it, quite thoroughly- Jason wants to have it back.

He did a pretty great job fucking that up.

Jason sighs, picking up the remains of the fries. Eating’s oddly calming; it reminds him that he can still do that. Almost like nothing’s changed.

Pulling on his armor, he gets ready to go back out. Some time sooner or later he has to get a clue to the other vampires or ‘Cornelia’, if that’s really her name, right?

~*~

4:31 am

One thing that’s a tiny step into the direction of maybe explaining why vampires drink blood, is this. Smell.

People suddenly smell oddly nice. It’s not that they smell much different from before- it actually only got a bit more intense. Jason suspects his senses have been heightened too, especially nose and eyes; even electrical light is unbearably bright most of the time.

The smells of people are the same as before, but they got more alluring. A bit like the smell of fresh bread at a bakery. They still smell like people, but suddenly it makes Jason want to have a little… taste.

Not that he’s going to. Hell, he could stand in bakeries without suddenly attacking the croissants, couldn’t he? This is hardly any different.

Or at least that’s what he tries to tell himself.

The inevitable catastrophe happens about three hours later.

~*~

7:14 am

Tim’s slept like shit.

That’s not too bad actually, since it implies that he slept at all. The few scattered minutes of rest that he got between staring at the window and working on the case at least keep him going. The night befor, he couldn’t sleep at all. If his sleep keeps being this ineffective, he should probably reconsider going to bed at all; it’s a waste of time like this.

Working on the case hasn’t gotten him anywhere yet. Jason’s… um. _Encounter_. It clearly suggests that they’re dealing with actual vampires here.

Tim’s sect theory dies a short, painless death with that.

It sort of does explain the weird DNA traces he’s gotten. Still, it starts so many more new questions. What exactly are vampires? How do they differ from normal humans? The list is much longer, but these are the two most important things he needs to find out.

Working with Jason would make finding answers a whole lot easier, but Tim refuses to. After what happened two nights ago, he’s not too keen on being in Jason’s general vicinity at all, much less in that of a Jason who’s just turned into a vampire. As far as he knows, Jason hasn’t tried to find him again, which is a small consolation, but it sure as hell doesn’t mean Tim will believe a single wor-

The line Tim’s hooked up to the police cracks. It’s probably another body, he thinks, but he’s wrong.

A woman calls in about a “vampire attacking people”. She sounds breathless and terrified, but at least she gives a street name. It’s close.

Tim’s out of his secret apartment in seconds.

~*~

7:12 am

Jason doesn’t know where the mother was planning on taking her child. It’s a bit too early for kindergarten, and the boy also looks a bit young for that.

It doesn’t really matter where they were going, anyway, what matters is that Jason is unfortunate enough to run into them. It’s still dark and he wants to use these hours as well as he can, before he needs to close the blinds at his safehouse and hide from fucking _sunlight_ for what feels like eternity.

The little boy runs ahead of his mother, but then suddenly a hand shoots out from an alley and pulls him in.

The woman screams, and Jason’s across the street before he can think.

No child will be abducted while he is around; that much is sure.

He’s got the man down on the ground in a matter of seconds and only wonders about the lack of resistance for a split moment before he realizes that the man actually is struggling against him; he’s just… so very slow and weak. And he wouldn’t even have been a threat before Jason’s change.

Angry as he is, he beats the man a few more times for good measure, breaking his nose with a very nice crunching noise.

Blood splatters.

Jason can hear the woman talk behind him, gathering up her kid and trying to thank him, but he doesn’t really notice her.

Everything around him fades out. Voices, images, everything’s like fog, blurry and silent and unimportant. The only thing that registers clearly are the dark red shiny drops on his knuckles and the broken face in front of him.

His entire being lurches.

Thoughts shut down; everything narrows in on the important thing around him.

 _Prey_.

~*~

7:17 am

The scene is… disturbing.

When Tim ran out to look into the vampire attack, he sure as hell didn’t expect said vampire to be _Jason_.

He thinks he can see a bloody body in the alley just behind Jason, and it doesn’t look pretty. About Jason’s entire front is smeared red- especially the lower half of his face- except for the white, glinting teeth. His pupils are dilated enough to make his eyes look completely black.

A woman, maybe the one who called the police, is cowering in the far corner of the alley, clutching a boy, maybe four years old.

Jason’s standing in front of them, apparently done with the… mess of a body that’s lying on the ground. Tim can’t tell for sure, but the man seems to be dead. The vampire’s teeth are bared; he’s reaching out for the woman and child, and judging by the extensive bruises on the woman’s arms, she’s already tried to fight back.

Tim charges into the alley without slowing down, causing Jason to turn around to face him. The vampire opens his mouth, lips curling apart like a wild animal’s, black eyes focusing on Tim, and he lets out an angry sound, a frightening mix between a hiss and a growl.

He attacks Tim immediately, at least moving away from the woman and the kid in the process, but it only takes a few seconds for Tim to realize that he’s in deep trouble.

Whoever… _Whatever_ this thing is, it’s not Jason anymore. The vampire doesn’t even seem to think or strategize as it attacks him, punching and swiping and kicking over and over, and it doesn’t need to do any of that. It’s so much stronger and faster than Tim; he only gives himself a minute at most until the vampire will have him down.

Pulling out his bo helps for a few moments, but then a particularly hard blow from the vampire snaps it. It was only an emergency version, designed to be taken apart in three pieces for transport, but still, no normal human should be able to break it in a fight.

Then again, what he’s fighting now is not human anymore.

It’s going to take at least another few minutes for the police to arrive, and Tim’s already fighting for his life.

The vampire doesn’t plan ahead in its attacks- a small advantage for Tim- but he has to back up steadily.

None of his own strikes even seem to register to Jason’s body, and he’s constantly trying to avoid being taken down by a punch. He dodges a particularly hard hit, barely moving out of the way before Jason’s fist crashes into the brick wall just over his head. Not against it. Literally _into_ it.

Tim almost wants to laugh as the vampire is, apparently, stuck in the wall. He moves back, not a moment too soon, as Jason yanks his arm back out.

Snarling furiously, he attacks again, and Tim barely manages to avoid ending like the bricks. He needs a plan, and he needs one now; at this rate he’s dead-

Thinking about a solution almost makes him lose focus, and he can hardly pull his head back in time to see long white canines between blood tinted lips snap in front of his nose.

The vampire swipes his fist out again, its black eyes glinting maliciously. Tim pulls back, but can’t dodge completely. The hit grazes his arm. Despite that, the force of the blow’s enough to make him lose balance, and with the next hit, he’s pushed down to the ground. The vampire’s lips pull into a victorious grin and-

Wait, that’s it.

The vampire- or is it Jason? It feels more appropriate to call him Jason now that they’re back to this- grabs Tim’s throat and pushes him back against the wall behind him. This time, the grip is stronger; Tim can’t breathe at all-

The vampire leans in, smirking, and for a split second, it looks exactly like Jason did two nights ago, only this time it’s not a knife pressed to Tim’s throat- the vampire himself is moving closer.

Tim pulls up the little orb he’s fingered out of his pouch. Then he throws it into Jason’s face, clenching his eyes shut under the mask.

Blend grenade.

The screech the vampire makes is going to give Tim nightmares. There’s so much raw pain in it that it makes his head hurt.

When he dares to open his eyes again, Jason’s lying on the floor, curled in on himself, clutching his eyes and twitching. Tim lets out a relieved breath. At least he’s right about the giant pupils being sensitive to light.

Now that he isn’t dead focused on Jason anymore, he notices the ruckus just outside the alley. Have the police finally arrived?

But then he sees the cameras. Reporters. Oh shit.

In a split second decision, he pushes a sedative into Jason’s neck, then pulls up his body and hauls him deeper into the shadows. His apartment’s just three blocks away; that should be manageable, right?

~*~

08:56 pm

Jason’s head hurts. Really, really hurts. He blinks his eyes open, whimpering and shoving a hand over them immediately. He takes back what he said- his headache doesn’t even come close to the crippling burn in his eyes.

"Finally awake again, huh?" a voice says from next to him, and it takes him a moment to put a name to it, but then-

"Tim?" he asks, and can’t quite believe himself.

"Yeah," his suspicion gets confirmed. He can hear Tim walk away, then a ‘click’ before he comes back. "I turned off the light. Can you can see something? I didn’t exactly mean to blind you permanently."

"Blind me- Tim, what happened?" he asks, a bit panicked, because… he doesn’t remember. He knows something happened, but he has no clue-

He opens his eyes slowly this time. They still burn, but he can actually see things. The little bit of moonlight from outside is more than enough to see things clearly- though for Tim, it has to be really dark. He looks over at the young man and notices how Tim visibly flinches back.

Fuck. What the hell did he do that Tim reacts like that?

"You’re you, right? Your pupils widened a bit," Tim asks. He sounds very cautious, and it’s reinforcing the bad feeling in Jason’s stomach.

He nods, not quite sure what Tim means, before he asks again. “Tim. What the fuck _happened_?”

"You…" Tim hesitates, looking for words. "You freaked out. Went completely feral. I- I think it was caused by seeing blood?"

Jason nods at the suggestion. There is something in his mind, just before everything goes hazy: a few clear drops of dark red.

"Yeah, well. You killed a man. Almost killed a woman and her little son too, before I arrived. Hell, you even almost got me before I remembered how much trouble you had with my lamp. I threw a blend grenade at you, one of those small ones for stunning, but it worked. Then the press arrived and I got us out of there. Didn’t really feel like explaining things to Vicky Vale."

Tim looks at him. And he looks so fucking honest that Jason’s kind of afraid he’s actually serious about this.

Jason just killed a man, because he saw his _blood_.

Fucking _shit_.

"Hell," he mutters and moves up. He only notices the cuffs around his wrists when he accidentally snaps them, and when he looks back at Tim, the smaller man is halfway across the room. "Jesus, was I that bad?"

He looks closer- after all his eyes work better now- and can make out some really nasty bruises around Tim’s throat. At his arms too, and even though Jason can’t see it, he doubts the torso and legs look much better.

What’s worse, he only now realizes that they’re probably not all from vampire-him. Some of them look a bit older already. Also his fault. Goddamnit.

"Well, it was… frightening," Tim admits, slowly and very carefully inching closer to him. "But… I agree with you now."

Jason looks back at him, nonplussed. “You agree with what?”

Tim takes a deep breath. Jason can see his chest expand a little. It’s creeping him out, to be honest, to see so much. Even the nervous flutter and clench of Tim’s fingers as he talks. “Right about working together. I don’t think either of us can do this alone.”


	4. December 4th - The Day Jason and Tim Make News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim’s still not moving, but then he suddenly jumps up. "Of course!" he calls out at no one in particular. "How could we not- We need to call Jason."
> 
> "Uh, Tim?", Jason tries very carefully. "I hate to interrupt you while you’re losing your sanity, but I’m pretty sure _Jason_ already knows?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this already, but let me thank you again for all the comments and kudos. It's really great to know that people actually read this and I didn't work on this fic for nothing =) Especially since it's the first longer fic I've ever written...

00:51 am

"Tim. This is…" Jason is a bit lost for words, he has to admit.

But Tim seems to get what he wants to say, because he nods and mutters, “Yes, it is.”

Jason’s clutching the evening paper of the Gotham Gazette between his hands. It’s a goddamn _desaster_ , is what it is.

They made it to the front page. With a fucking _photograph_.

Jason’s kind of grateful that he doesn’t remember what he did when he went feral. The picture- he doesn’t even know how the photographer managed to take it- is a close shot of the fight he apparently had with Red Robin.

Red Hood’s face, covered with the domino - he knows it’s his own, technically, but it looks so _foreign_ in the picture - is contorted into an ugly grimace of rage and hunger. He took the lenses of the mask out after he was bitten because they interfered with his vision, so his eyes are visible. They’re almost completely black in the picture, and the rage makes his face look like that of a soulless monster.

He guesses he kind of is one, isn’t he?

His long teeth are bared, and it looks like he’s about two seconds away from biting Red Robin, whom he’s pressing up against a wall. Jason has no idea how Tim even managed to get out of that alive, but he’s all the more grateful.

The article is vague and mostly speculation, since most of it is based on an interview with the mother he almost killed as well. From Vicky Vale’s point of view - god curse that woman - the Red Hood has been a vampire all along, proof of that is, apparently, that he hid his face under the helmet before. Now that he’s finally showing his “true colors”, he is attacking und murdering helpless citizens, as well as the bats.

After both Red Hood and Red Robin “vanished in a blinding light”, the most prominent question is if Hood abducted or killed the young vigilante.

What then follows is a string of theories about the recent murders also being commited by vampires - which is most probably true, but Jason would prefer the people of Gotham didn’t know that - and the entire bat family being vampires as well. But that ridiculous theory has been around since pretty much the beginning, so Jason doesn’t really care.

Still, the woman’s report of what happened, and that picture - it makes him feel sick.

 _He_ did that. He’d like to think that it was something he couldn’t have controlled, but…

The new purple bruises on Tim’s throat don’t look all that much different from the bluer ones Jason caused before. And he doesn’t really have the vampire excuse for those, does he?

He’d like to brush them off- after all Tim’s been trained; he can handle a few injuries. But Jason is rather perceptive and well aware of how Tim has not let his guard down this entire time, always kept a weapon at hand and his eyes on Jason, and twitches every time Jason moves into his general direction.

God, did he fuck this up.

He… He doesn’t want Tim to be this… afraid, nervous, cautious around him. He doesn’t want Tim to consider him an enemy.

But Tim does, and it’s Jason’s fault, for treating him the way he did.

He has honestly no idea how Tim can put up with working with him. And he gets why Tim threw him out before. But now that Jason’s an uncontrollable threat to people…

Of course someone needs to have an eye on him.

Like a guard on a rabid dog.

He gets up, tries to ignore the alarmed flicker of Tim’s eyes to him, and walks over to where the smaller man is working on his laptop.

"Have you found that Cornelia girl yet?" he asks, sitting down next to Tim, with a good bit of distance between them. Boundaries and all that.

Tim shakes his head. “There is no one even remotely fitting that description anywhere. No civil records, school attendance, social security… I even tried to find her by hacking into Gotham’s CCTVs, but there’s nothing on her. Are you sure you haven’t just… hallucinated her?”

Jason gives him his best ‘are you serious?’ expression. “Yes, _sure_ , Tim. I hallucinated her. And we’re both just hallucinating my vampire teeth, and the picture of me attacking you in the newspaper. This is just a giant hallucination; well done, apprentice of ‘The World’s Greatest Detective’.”

Tim looks up from his typing again. “Don’t try to be sassy with me,” he complains, and… Jason’s not sure, but that might just be a pout on his face. It looks pretty fucking adorable.

"Then don’t ask stupid questions. I know what I saw, okay? I doubt I could have imagined the woman who started all of this shit."

"Did she, now? I think it started with you trying to kill me. _Again_.”

"You’re not going to let this go, are you?", Jason asks with a sigh.

"Never," Tim gives back, and if Jason’s allowed to be hopeful here, Tim only looks 95% bitter and maybe 5% amused by their conversation. That might not be much, but it feels like a step in the right direction.

"Alright, alright," he amends, leaning in a little closer despite the slight tensing of Tim’s shoulders. "I might not be an expert on this particular matter, but I apologize, okay?"

Tim looks at him and goes very still.

For a moment Jason’s afraid he’ll get a “How dare you, I don’t believe you” lecture again, but Tim is… not moving at all.

It’s very worrisome.

"Tim…?" he asks very carefully, waving a hand in front of gray-blue eyes that are staring into nowhere. "Are you okay?"

Tim’s still not moving, but then he suddenly jumps up. “Of course!” he calls out at no one in particular. “How could we not- We need to call Jason.”

"Uh, Tim?", Jason tries very carefully. "I hate to interrupt you while you’re losing your sanity, but I’m pretty sure _Jason_ already knows?”

"Not you," Tim cuts him off, picking through different stacks of paper for… something.

Jason gets up and walks over, but immediately has a few folders pushed into his arms, then some loose documents. Tim just keeps pushing things at him until he feels like a personal walking stacker.

"Tim? Are you sure you’re alright?" Jason can’t help but ask again. The things he has to hold increase, and he almost can’t look over the stacks in his arms anymore. Tim has dived into a mountain of files and is rapidly looking at and then discarding them, and- oh, wow, is that a desk under there? What a mess.

"I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before, Jason," Tim says, and now Jason’s pretty sure it’s directed at him, even though all he can see is Tim’s back. "We _are_ hardly experts at this whole ‘mystical creatures being real’ thing. But we _know_ someone who is.”

"We do?", Jason asks, a bit confused, but then he realizes who Tim is talking about, just when the younger man rises from the paper mountain, a crumpled note with a phone number on it in his hand.

"Yeah, we do," Tim proclaims, and he’s actually smiling at that. "We should call Jason Blood."

~*~

11:24 pm

Despite looking for “Cornelia” the whole day, Jason still hasn’t found anyone who’s even seen her. If it weren’t for the report of the woman she attacked when he’d first encountered her, he’d actually _really_ start to think he only hallucinated.

Tim has done his best to help them solve this case by… putting all his blood reserves in lockdown. Just in case seeing or smelling or getting too close to them will set Jason off again. Now, only Tim can get to them; they’re locked away in a reinforced safe that requires a password and eye scan to open.

At first Jason scoffed at the idea, but now that he’s been out again, he’s quite glad. He doesn’t know why, but the people keep smelling… _nicer_.

If this keeps up, he’ll go back to being a bloodthirsty beast before the month is over. He really hopes Jason Blood has a solution for that. Or just… anything on vampires at all.

Something that both he and Tim have been doing is avoiding the rest of the bats.

Jason actually has no idea why Tim wants to do that. Of course, after the report of “bloodthirsty monster-vampire Red Hood taking a half-dead Red Robin with him,” the bats are looking for them. But Tim’s decision is to stay away, so Jason stays away. They’re more Tim’s family than his, anyway.

At 11:30 pm sharp, there is a knock on the door to Tim’s allegedly super-secret, super-safe safe house. Tim opens, and Jason Blood comes in.

Jason would actually really like to know why fate came up with two Jasons who both have a white streak in their hair. His is otherwise black and Blood’s more red, but still. With all this supernatural stuff going on, he’s allowed to be suspicious.

Blood sits down with them - actually makes them sit and talk through it, yes -, but at least he actually _does_ know a few things about vampires.

With being a vampire comes: increased strength, speed and stamina, as well as better senses. Vampires require less sleep, tend to age a bit slower and heal a little faster, but their appetite doesn’t differ from humans at all, except for, well, the blood thing.

According to Blood - seriously, _Jason Blood_ , as a vampire Jason feels like some kind of conspiracy is going on here - vampires need blood about every five to fifteen days. Otherwise - starvation. And to add to that, Jason can’t drink his own blood or any transfusion bags. That, as well as the blood from dead people, is like “seriously long gone-off milk” for vampires, apparently.

So, the general gist is, Jason’s new life is pretty sweet, apart from the fact that he needs to literally suck someone’s blood two or three times a month.

On the other hand, he doesn’t have to drink all that much, apparently. Depending on how long ago his last… ‘drink’ was, it should be about half a liter. People don’t die from that.

With Blood’s help, they also find out why people suddenly smell so tasty to Jason. As it turns out, while he did kill that man yesterday, he didn’t actually drink much of his blood, because he tried to keep the woman and her son from getting away. So he just had a little ‘taste’, and now blood keeps getting nicer and nicer the hungrier Jason becomes.

And just after turning, his appetite might also still be a bit unpredictable.

Another nice thing? Blood actually knows “Cornelia.” When Jason mentions her, Blood looks at him in surprise. “Oh, you mean C?”

"Is that what she calls herself?" Jason asks and tries his hardest not to look over at Tim and gloat with an ‘I told you she was real’.

Blood nods. “Yes, she does. I’m actually quite surprised she turned you. She is still quite young, but she knows some powerful magic and usually doesn’t do anything stupid.”

"Magic?" Tim asks. It’s the first they’ve heard of that. On top of vampires, too. Fucking great.

"Yes. Vampires are at their core magical beings, hardly creatures of science. C has dabbled in magic quite a lot- I’ve worked with her a few times. Those tattoos she has- they’re runes. Make her magic quite powerful. You see, vampires are able to _direct_ magic, but they lack the magical energy necessary for most spells. Of course, there are other things that have this energy: runes, objects, events, powerful spells of others, and so on. A skilled vampire is able to siphon that power and use it for their own magic. In fact, I believe that’s why so many vampires have suddenly come to Gotham.”

Now both Tim and Jason look at him in surprise.

Blood snorts, something that sounds a bit like “commoners,” but then continues. “A few weeks ago, a very powerful magical energy appeared in Gotham. Jason here is too new at being a vampire to feel it, but I’m sure most other vampires do. That’s why they came here.”

"And if they rot together in larger groups, that would explain the corpses with the many bite wounds. They. They share their meals," Tim concludes, feeling a little sick at the thought, and Blood nods.

"Yes. Though I don’t understand how C turning Jason fits into the picture. I haven’t heard from her in quite some time, but she always seemed like quite a thoughtful young lady."

"Maybe Jason pushed her off before she could drink his blood?" Tim suggests.

"It doesn’t work that way," Blood denies. "Vampires can control whether they want to feed from or turn someone. They need to be older to be able to turn someone at all, but it doesn’t happen by accident. A feeding bite is just slightly sedating, so their prey can’t escape, though that is controllable too. But if C turned Jason, then turning Jason is exactly what she meant to do. I’m sure you will eventually get to talk to her."

"Now isn’t _that_ encouraging,” Jason mutters sarcastically.

The thing that really sucks, though, is something else.

"I’m afraid that controlling your… ferocity whenever you get close to blood and haven’t eaten recently, is not possible," Blood says when Jason asks, and looks so completely calm about it, Jason thinks he’s trying to joke for a moment.

"Wait. Are you trying to tell me that every time someone starts bleeding close to me I go all mindless monster on everyone?” Jason inquires, a bad feeling settling in his stomach. That… That would be seriously bad. He doesn’t want to be that kind of monster.

"Well, after years of training and with a few spells, some vampires manage to master that urge, like C did. They still need to drink blood, but they can control themselves around it. You, however, can’t learn that yet. Maybe in ten years or so." Jason actually wants to punch his namesake in the face. That bastard has no right to look so calm.

He feels Tim put a hand on his shoulder and pull him… back?

Oh. He leant forward. And bared his teeth. And growled.

 _Fuck_.

"Is there really nothing we could do?", Tim asks, but he doesn’t look too happy about the new information, either.

Blood looks at them, for a moment, obviously contemplating something. “What is your relationship with each other?”, he asks then, suddenly.

Both of them blink in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Tim says with a strangled sounding voice, the same moment Jason lets out a, "The fuck?"

At least they manage to make Blood chuckle, apparently. “I probably should have phrased that differently,” he amends, then looks directly at Jason. “Do you trust Tim?”

Jason… Well. He shrinks in on himself a bit, shuffling his feet nervously. “What does that have to do with anything?” he demands to know then, narrowing his eyes a little in suspicion and irritation.

Blood chuckles again. “It means, that while it’s impossible for you to control your bloodlust when you’re directly exposed, there’s something else I can do. A bond.”

Jason’s eyes narrow further, but then he nods for Blood to continue.

"You’ve probably already heard of bonds in various works of fiction, though most of them don’t really grasp the concept. A bond binds a magical creature to a master. That master is then able to control them and, at times, make use of their magic."

"You want to bind me to Tim," Jason realizes, a bit shocked.

Blood nods. “Yes. It would give Tim the option of controlling you, whenever you can’t do it yourself, namely stop you from mindlessly attacking people every time you get close to blood.”

"Wait," Tim interrupts. Jason looks at him, and the younger man seems… terrified. He’s hiding it quite well- it almost looks like he’s just a bit nervous, but Jason can see through that. Tim is afraid, _incredibly_ afraid of the idea. “Wouldn’t that allow me to control him… always?”

"That is correct," Blood admits. "It would basically make Jason your magical servant. Like a witch’s raven, though your bond would require far more magic to be forged, and I imagine Jason to be a bit more helpful than a bird."

"That’s a horrible idea," Tim whispers. He looks a bit pale. "Stopping Jason when he tries to eat someone’s face is one thing, but being able to control him _completely_ … No one should have that much power over someone else. He’s a _person_ , not some kind of _pet_!”

Damn.

Tim sounds really convinced. Jason feels a bit flattered that the younger man is stepping up for him like this, especially after he almost killed him twice over the last three nights.

"It is, of course, a decision you both have to make," Blood amends and gets up. "Forging the bond requires quite a few things, among them a full moon. That would be in two days. I will talk to you then. Choose wisely."

And just like that, with the sound of a bell ringing midnight outside, Blood steps through Tim’s door and disappears.


	5. December 5th - The Day Bacon and Vivaldi Cause Some Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had a cactus once. It died.
> 
> How the hell is he supposed to take responsibility for an entire _vampire_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thumbs up for the probably worst chapter title to date? I think they get better later. Though I haven't finished writing the series yet. I should probably get to that... We'll manage. Somehow. Probably.  
> I also got one very long comment and am still squealing in joy over it. You know who you are, and please feel my eternal gratefulness. A reader actually analyzing and askign questions and telling me their hopes and assumptions is really great, and I am sooo happy right now. Please forgive me for not answering the questions at all, to not give anything away? They'll all be answered in time, some even in this chapter =)

00:04 am

Tim is freaking out. Like. _Seriously_ freaking out.

Part of him is of the opinion that, technically, Jason has way more reason to be upset about this than he does. After all, Jason would be the one that ends up at Tim’s mercy if they do get… a bond.

But… Tim doesn’t know why. All he knows is that the thought of becoming Jason’s ‘master’ has him panicking.

He had a cactus once. It died.

How the hell is he supposed to take responsibility for an entire _vampire_?

He means. Sure, a vampire can feed itself, but still!

He… There is no way he could possibly do that. It’s… too much. Of everything.

Tim actually has no idea why Jason hasn’t started a list of all the reasons why this is a seriously bad idea yet.

~*~

00:13 am

"Tim. Seriously. Calm down," Jason mutters from where he’s sprawled over the tiny couch. He’s trying to think about this option Blood’s given them, but the rapid trappling of Tim’s feet pacing up and down the room is making it difficult to concentrate.

Tim looks up like a startled deer at the sound of his voice. That actually feels like an achievement, because it means that Tim’s increasing panic has stopped him from warily staring at Jason all the time.

Still… Jason doesn’t like this situation either.

When they called Blood, he’s hoped for something like a ‘blood substitute’ or a way to control his hunger. Not… _this_.

Who even had the stupid idea to call it a bond?

Bond sounds like a partnership. But this would basically make him a _slave_.

Jason doesn’t want to be at anyone’s mercy or be forced to listen to their every command. Especially not if that someone controlling him has more than enough reason to hate him.

And in the past, Jason’s given Tim plenty of those.

He’s actually quite surprised that Tim doesn’t jump at this chance. If he becomes Jason’s master, he can finally relax and let his guard down. No more Jason trying to kill him. No more Jason betraying his trust. Hell, Tim could even take revenge for all the shit Jason did to him.

If someone had done to Jason what he did to Tim, he sure as hell would use this opportunity to make their life hell.

Jason doesn’t know what he’s supposed to think of this… anxiety Tim seems to feel instead.

~*~

03:50 am

Tim has stopped the pacing about an hour ago. His feet hurt.

Now he’s curled up on one end of the couch, knees pulled up, and Jason’s sprawled over the rest of it, his calves resting under Tim’s legs. He’s still just as warm as before, so the whole “body being cold and no heartbeat” thing seems to be another fact that’s made up.

While it’s reassuring that Jason’s new physiology isn’t that of a walking corpse, it doesn’t solve the problem.

If Tim were to become Jason’s master… and god, he already hates that word. He doesn’t want to be anyone’s master. Leading the Teen Titans put him in a leader position, but the others could still _object_ to anything he said.

This would be different.

Doing this bond thing would mean constantly keeping an eye on Jason. Like. Literally constantly.

With the increased strength he has now, Jason is more than likely to make someone bleed during patrol. It’s actually a small miracle a catastrophe like yesterday hasn’t happened earlier.

But… he doubts Jason would give his job up. So Tim would be full time responsible for Jason’s life and the lives of everyone around him. That’s not exactly a responsibility he wants.

And then he’d also be responsible for Jason’s… feeding, wouldn’t he?

After all, it seems that Jason needs to drink blood directly from a living person, about three times a month, if he doesn’t want to drop dead. That’s another thing Tim would have to take care of, right? He can hardly just let Jason run along and snack on people.

They still need to find someone agreeing to be vampire food at all.

Tim doesn’t think that will be easy. The simplest solution would be…

It would be to let Jason feed on _him_ , he suddenly realizes.

It’s the most logical thing to do. Actually, the only thing speaking against it would be the blood loss he’d have after a while. That really wouldn’t go so well with being a night-time crime fighter.

But apart from that… it’s not like they can just ask people on the streets.

Wasn’t there something Blood said, about the master being able to use the vampire’s magic? Maybe he could utilize that, somehow. He needs to call Blood tomorrow. Right now he’s a bit… tired.

~*~

4:18 am

Jason looks up from his musing to see how Tim’s doing. He can’t help but smile a little when he notices that the younger man has fallen asleep.

Tim’s head is leaning against the couch’s back, half lolled to the side, and if he stays like that, his neck is going to kill him tomorrow.

Very carefully, Jason pulls his legs out from under Tim’s and is just about to pick the smaller man up when he notices how Tim’s sleeping position is showing off his throat.

For a split second, he feels like he’s standing in front of an ‘All you can eat’ buffet with his mouth so close to all that bared skin…

But then he pulls himself together.

No snacking on allies. Especially not after what he’s done to Tim already. Not even when Tim smells absolutely _delicious_ and has his guard down for the first time since they started working together.

It feels like a personal accomplishment, sort of, and while the decision to grant Jason this new chance was probably involuntary on Tim’s part, Jason is sure as hell not going to fuck it up this time. He will seize this opportunity to show Tim that he’s actually really not trying to backstab him here.

He wants Tim to trust him again.

It’s a thought he’s had before, but now in the new context with the bond, he suddenly realizes…

He wants to trust _Tim_ , too. Hell, to some degree he already does. He’s sure that once Tim believes that Jason won’t try to kill him again, Tim’s not going to betray him, either.

As gently as possible, in order to not wake him up, Jason lays Tim down on his bed and even pulls the blankets up. It’s December and cold as fuck, okay? He doesn’t need a partner with a cold.

It’s a small miracle, but even though Tim tends to be a light sleeper, he doesn’t wake up. It might be due to Jason’s enhanced abilities, but judging from the dark bags under Tim’s eyes, it’s probably just exhaustion and a serious lack of sleep. Jason will have to make sure Tim takes better care of himself.

He doesn’t even know why he feels this responsible for the kid.

Is this him subconsciously trying to make up for all the bad things he did to Tim?

Jason has no idea. But…

Now that he thinks about things like this, he realizes something.

He’s so calm about the idea of the bond, because he knows that Tim wouldn’t use this power to harm him. Sure, some clues to that have been pretty obvious, but it’s more than that.

Even after Jason tried to kill him, after he killed a lot of people that- by Tim’s morals- shouldn’t have been killed, even after losing control completely and turning into a bloodthirsty, murdering monster. Even if he did all of that again and more, Tim wouldn’t use complete control over Jason to harm him unnecessarily.

The kid just doesn’t have it in him. All the trust that Jason would put in him by agreeing to the bond, Tim would not use that against him.

Jason feels like such an asshole for trying to kill him before.

~*~

10:46 am

Tim’s not sure what it is that wakes him up. Maybe it’s his internal clock screaming at him that he should have been up hours ago. Or maybe it’s the mouthwatering smell of someone cooking breakfast in his little- until today- unused kitchen.

He’s curled up comfortably under a warm blanket, and it feels like the nicest place on earth, but that smell is way too tempting to ignore. Still half asleep, with barely opened eyes and disheveled hair, he trots into the kitchen.

He can hardly believe what he sees there.

Jason has, somehow, found an apron that reads ‘Kiss the cook!’ Wearing that and happily humming Vivaldi’s spring sonata, he’s standing in front of the stove plates. There’s bacon and eggs sizzling in two big pans, and toast piling up on a plate.

Tim’s stomach gives a grumble.

Is this how people smell to Jason now? Because if it is, he totally gets Jason’s feral monster state. If he doesn’t get breakfast soon, he’ll go there, too.

"Morning," Jason greets him, smiling a little over his shoulder. "You fell asleep last night, so I put you to bed. Did I wake you up? You look like you could use about twenty more hours of rest."

Tim doesn’t even know how to react to this entire situation. It’s so… absurd.

Did Jason feed on him when he fell asleep? Is this some kind of weird, blood loss-induced coma dream?

The bacon smells way too good to be imaginary, though.

Jason takes out another plate for him - he finds it on the first try, and it’s a bit unsettling since Tim didn’t even know where he kept his plates here until just now - and pushes some things on it.

They eat their breakfast in silence, but it’s not an uncomfortable one. Apart from Tim’s suspicion that this is some weird hallucination.

Everything is so… so _peaceful_.

As if Jason and he are an old married couple or something.

A _happily_ married couple.

~*~

03:08 pm

This morning was… a bit strange.

Jason doesn’t even know how it happened. He was hungry and was making himself breakfast, and then suddenly Tim was there and they were eating together.

They didn’t insult each other or argue at all. That might be because they weren’t talking, but…

It was really odd, okay? Tim looked a bit disturbed, too.

Now, Jason has taken to hiding out in Tim’s bathroom. Of course that sucks, big time. It’s not because of the breakfast thing. The sun’s wandered, and now Tim’s not-quite-closing blinds can’t keep the bright rays out of the living-working-kitchen-room.

And just in case sunlight makes Jason turn to stone or something, he’s playing it safe and sitting on the edge of the shower. He really needs to remember to ask Jason Blood about this sometime soon. Just trying it out to see what happens doesn’t seem like the way to go here.

At least he has time to think things over like this.

And he’s totally not avoiding talking to Tim after their weird truce just now.

He’s trying to stay calm. Collect all the facts. Be reasonable.

On the pro side for bonding with Tim would be, control. No accidental murdering of innocents. He… _fuck_ , he almost killed a little boy and his mother. What kind of monster would do that? In order to prevent a tragedy like that, Jason would do almost anything.

Also, Tim seems trustworthy. He wouldn’t manipulate Jason or use him for his own interests. In fact, it looks like he’s more terrified of this idea than Jason is, so he’d probably keep his control to the necessary minimum, wherever that might be.

On the con side.

Jason would become a slave. That doesn’t sit too well with him. If Tim goes crazy or some shit, he could make Jason into his murdering super-powered bodyguard.

Whatever important decision they’ll make will ultimately be up to Tim. And while Tim might not be out to harm him, their opinions and morals differ a lot. Jason will end up doing things he thinks are wrong, simply because Tim thinks they’re right.

Not to mention that this whole vampire thing is already messing up his life. And Tim’s, too. Until now Jason was just the mad estranged brother who’s occasionally tried to knife Tim. With the bond they’d become… _more_ , in a way, wouldn’t they? He feels like he’s messed up Tim’s life enough already.

And… hey, being a solo operating vampire would be pretty cool, right? If you don’t count the part where he’s going to end up being an uncontrolled mass murderer.

So.

It’s really not a decision he wants to make at all. But the facts speak for themselves, don’t they?

There is only one acceptable choice in this.

Unfortunately, now that said choice is made, he’s stuck in a bathroom for several hours without anything to do. After learning the complete list of ingredients of Tim’s tooth paste and shredding all the toilet paper into little squares, he starts building a fort in the bathtub with the two things. Turns out, that would have been so much easier if the toilet paper was still intact.

~*~

05:09 pm

Tim calls Jason out when the main room is finally sun light-free again. At least Jason chose a good season to turn into a creature of the night. Turning mid-July would have been a lot more inconvenient.

When Jason steps out, he looks at Tim, and judging from the vampire’s expression, he’s come a decision.

Tim’s thought about things, too, of course, while trying to find Cornelia or C or whatever her name is, though still without any success. But he hasn’t made a choice yet.

It’s not his decision to make, anyway. It’s Jason who would have to hand all his autonomy over to Tim.

"I decided," Jason declares, looking nervous but determined.

Tim motions towards the couch, and they sit down on opposing ends.

Jason takes a deep breath, then looks up at Tim. The slitted pupils are still a bit unsettling every time Tim sees them, but at least they don’t make him flinch anymore.

"I want the bond," Jason says, then.

Tim feels like he misheard.

This entire time he’s wondered why Jason didn’t immediately put his foot down at the suggestion.

But… this? Actually accepting it? What’s up with that?

At least Jason seems willing to explain his choice. “I don’t like the idea of it, in general. But, I think it’s necessary. We both know I see a lot of blood, and I can’t go crazy every time that happens. I’d be a threat to everyone. I… I almost killed a mother and her little kid last time. I can’t let anything like that happen again, ever. So you need to stop me.”

Tim’s chest feels wrong. It’s like a heavy weight is resting on him, stopping him from getting quite enough air into his lungs. “You’d trust me with that?” he asks, and can’t keep the slight tremor out of his voice.

"Yes," Jason immediately responds, and that makes Tim even more nervous. Jason looks so fierce and determined. Somehow not at all like someone who is currently proposing to become a magic-bound slave. "I trust you with this, Tim. You wouldn’t take advantage of this. Of me."

Breathing feels even more difficult now. Tim feels a bit like he’s standing next to himself, like he’s not really part of this conversation at all. It’s all too much. His hands twitch, and he’s not sure what to do with them or himself. “Okay,” he breathes, his stomach doing flips. He feels like he should run away and never come back. “It’s your choice. But I decided something, too.”

Jason nods at him to continue talking.

"I called Blood again. Being bonded to you will give me slightly slower aging as well. And… Fast regeneration of bloodifyoufeedonme." The last part comes out almost incomprehensible, words jumbled with how fast he tries to get them out.

"You want to-", Jason starts, instantly understanding what Tim’s planning. For some odd reason, he looks more upset about this than about signing away his freedom of will.

"Yes," Tim cuts him off. His heartbeat keeps speeding up; he wouldn’t be surprised if Jason could hear its nervous flutter. He breathes slowly, forcing himself to calm down and sound composed. "If you want the bond, okay. But if we do that, you will feed from _me_.”

"You’re _insane_!” Jason argues immediately, straightening up from where he slouched down. “Tim, you can’t- I could kill you!”

"Not like you haven’t tried before," Tim replies, trying to stay calm. He can’t hear his heartbeat anymore at all because of all the blood rushing through his head, and he’s not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

"Tim, come on, don’t start this agai-"

"I’m not," he interrupts Jason who’s looking really panicked by now. "If you have a more reasonable proposal, we can discuss that. But in our current situation, the only option we have is me volunteering. We need a real, living person. Civilians are not an option. The superheroes aren’t either. The only ones involved in this are you and me, and you can’t feed from yourself. So."

Jason’s fingers clench. He looks a bit lost and a lot like he wants to hit something. “ _Tim_ ,” he tries again. “That’s a really bad idea. What if I end up killing you? There’d be no one left to control me. And-“

"Who else would you feed from, if not me?" Tim asks, and Jason tenses up.

"I’m… I’m sure we could find someone-"

"We don’t have any other option, is what you’re saying," Tim says. Just stating the facts like this actually makes him feel a lot calmer. "Literally, the only option we have is me. If we ever find anyone else? Great. But for now, if you agree to the bond, you will feed from me. I want you to know that before you accept."

"Tim," Jason repeats again, as if saying his name over and over will somehow make him change his mind. Tim can see the thoughts whirring through his head, how he’s trying to think of someone else to bite, but there really isn’t.

Tim _knows_. It’s not like he _wants_ to be vampire food. He’s just made the most logical decision, like Jason’s making the most logical decision by agreeing to the bond.

"I don’t like it, either," he mumbles quietly, startling Jason out of his thoughts and making him look over to him.

There’s another silent moment. Then Jason nods.

"Fine. We’ll do it. But just so you know, if I kill you, it’s totally gonna be your fault."


	6. December 6th - The Day Tim is Standing on a Rooftop in December, Half-Naked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you fucking kidding me?" Jason asks and gives the writing utensil a funny look.
> 
> Blood stares at him dryly. “Oh, I apologize. Would you rather use a virgin’s blood or carve it into your skin? As far as I knew, the main goal of this undertaking is to make sure you do _not_ try to eat everyone in your vicinity again. But if this isn’t _magical_ enough for you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally home again from camp. So tired. So exhausted. My body hurts. And it's already dark outside again... Yay, timezones. Anyway, hope you'll have fun with the chapter =)
> 
> Not sure about the link system on AO3, but I uploaded some scribbles of the marks on my tumblr, in case you're interested you can look here: onyx-stars. tumblr. com / post / 104495195395 / masterpost-with-all-the-links-here-follows

09:59 pm

The sky is as black as ink. Only the full moon is providing a bright spot, that is, if Tim doesn’t count the lights and noise from Gotham all around them. He and Jason are standing on top of the roof, waiting for Jason Blood.

Tim still doesn’t like the decision they’ve made, neither Jason’s nor his own. But it’s the best they can do for now, so they’ll just have to pull through with this, somehow.

At exactly 10:00 pm the access door to the roof opens and Jason Blood steps out, though Tim didn’t hear him coming, and judging from his expression, neither did Jason.

Magic. Ugh.

"I’ve heard you decided to bond," Blood starts, and both of them nod, slowly.

Tim just hopes this will be over soon, it’s seriously cold as fuck by now, despite the warm jacket he’s wearing, and he forgot his gloves. Ancient bonding rituals don’t take that long, do they?

Blood hums to himself a bit and puts down the bag he’s brought. Then he starts explaining. “I’ve prepared a very ancient ritual, very powerful, too. It should be enough to reign Jason in, since it’s magic power is directly connected to the both individuals it binds. It will also change and adapt depending on what kind of relationship you two have.”

Tim sends a confused glance over to Jason, who gives back one of his own. What the hell kind of relationship is Blood talking about? They’ve currently arrived at ‘not trying to stab each other constantly’, and that’s already a lot better than Tim thought it would ever get.

Blood takes a piece of white chalk out of his bag and draws a circle with complicated signs on the floor, the kind Tim’s never seen before. Then he straightens back up and claps the dust off his hands. “Alright. In order for the ritual to work, we need to get four things done, all under this wonderful full moon we have tonight. You need to have the runes drawn on yourself, physically connect to one another, and then Jason has to pledge his allegiance to Tim, while I cast the spell itself.”

That doesn’t sound too difficult, Tim thinks. Then Blood motions for Jason to step forward, pulls the zipper of Jason’s jacket down a bit and gets a black sharpie out of his bag.

… What.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jason asks and gives the writing utensil a funny look.

Blood stares at him dryly. “Oh, I apologize. Would you rather use a virgin’s blood or carve it into your skin? As far as I knew, the main goal of this undertaking was to make sure you do _not_ try to eat everyone in your vicinity again. But if this isn’t _magical_ enough for you…”

Jason looks miffed as Tim lets out a little snort at Blood’s comment. Nevertheless, he keeps still while Blood draws a bunch of weird signs and symbols all around his throat. It looks a bit like… a collar, Tim thinks to himself.

Bad association. _Bad_.

In the front, just beneath Jason’s Adam’s apple, there’s a small symbol, at first glance it’s just a lot of confusing lines, but after some time it looks a bit like two arrows crossing, with a hash in the middle, and four crescent shapes at every point where the edges of the hash touch the arrows.

Or maybe it’s supposed to be something else, and Blood’s scribbling is just really uncoordinated. Tim imagines it’s quite difficult to draw on someone’s throat.

"It’s an African symbol of unity. People have used it to forge bonds for thousands of years," Blood explains as he notices Tim’s staring. He steps back, stops Jason from drawing his zipper back up and then turns to Tim.

Tim bares his throat as well, trying really hard to ignore the way Jason’s pupils widen at the action - it’s fine, they’re doing this to solve that problem, it’s unlikely he’ll die in the next half hour before they’re finished - but then…

"Yours goes on the chest. You need to take it all off," Blood says, and… He doesn’t look like he’s joking.

"We’re on a _roof_. It’s _December_.” Blood has to be kidding, right? It’s cold as fuck. Tim can see his _breath_.

"Well, I can’t draw through your shirt and jacket, I’m afraid," Blood mutters. He stares at Tim with a bit of reproach. _Look at me, coming all the way out to Gotham to help you two out, and this is the thanks I get. Not even cooperation_ , his look seems to say.

After a few more moments of silent glaring, Tim gives in. “Fine,” he mutters and sheds his jacket and shirt.

The fact that his nipples instantly get hard from the cold isn’tt his biggest problem. It’s not even how Jason’s eyes go full black instead of teal for a second. The biggest problem is how he can immediately feel his body freeze up all the way to his insides. And if this takes even half as long as Jason’s, he’s going to have died of frostbite by the time Blood is done.

For the record, the signs on his chest, leaning a bit to the left side, dont take as long as Jason’s. They take _longer_.

When Blood finally takes the sharpie away, Tim has lost pretty much all feeling in his torso and arms. He’s shivering like a fucking leaf, and he means that very literally. At least Jason’s expression has gone from ‘hungry’ to ‘pitying’.

"Please tell me I can get dressed now," he asks, teeth clattering a bit, but Blood shakes his head.

"Only after the ritual."

"Can’t we do this somewhere warmer?" he complains then.

"Yes, sure," Blood answers, and for a moment Tim wants to punch him in the face, but then his voice slips back to being sarcastic. "We just need the full moon’s light, so I guess we’ll have to do it in summer. How would you like July?"

Tim bites back a ‘fuck you’.

Blood rummages through his bag again and then pulls out a crumpled sheet of paper. There’s something written on it, Tim guesses, though he can’t read that, either.

"Now you two need to touch,"Blood instucts while he motions for them to step into the chalk circle.

"How, exactly?", Jason asks.

Blood shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, you need physical contact. Under normal circumstances, I would let you drink each other’s blood, but that’s not so optimal for vampires. Just hold hands or something.”

Tim feels a short spike of something resembling warmth shoot to his cheeks. He looks over to Jason, who seems to be just as… oddly embarrassed. Then he holds out his hand, and Tim takes it in his.

God, Jason’s hand is so _warm_.

Tim has never been as happy as right now that vampires aren’t cold-bodied. Now at least his left hand gets a bit of feeling back.

They both listen as Blood reads some ancient words, or verses, or spells, or whatever it is. Tim has literally no idea. He’s got a pretty extensive knowledge on languages, and so does Jason, but he can’t fit these sounds in anywhere.

The signs on his chest feel warm, suddenly. Looking down, Tim notices that the shapes have become… sharper, somehow. They look blacker and more fleshed out than the sharpie lines Blood scribbled onto his skin. He has the same strange unity symbol on his chest as Jason does on his throat, he notices.

Looking up, he realizes Jason’s symbols get more defined, too. Despite being as black as the night sky, they almost seem to glow.

Blood finishes speaking, then looks at Jason. “Now you need to pledge your loyalty to Tim. Whatever you say is fine, as long as it expresses that.”

Jason looks a little caught off guard. His fingers twitch nervously around Tim’s hand. “Uh,” his gaze flickers to Tim, unsure.

Tim tries to give him an encouraging smile, but he feels just as clueless. He’s kind of glad he doesn’t have to do the talking, since he wouldn’t know what to say, either.

Jason takes a deep breath. “Tim Drake,” he starts, voice sounding off and his gaze is a bit… Unsure. Frightened? After all, he’s going to sign himself over to Tim, now. “I, uh. Swear my loyalty to you. And to listen to you whenever you try to stop me from eating someone.”

"You need to accept," Blood tells Tim when Jason’s silent for so long that they realize, apparently that was it. Fine, Tim can’t wait for this to be over, so he can dress again.

"I. I accept," Tim repeats automatically, voice a bit squeaky. With the winter cold freezing his body, he’s almost lost sight of how incredibly… important and changing this is what they’re doing right now.

Jason gives him a roguish grin, and yeah, he guesses they could have thought of better things to say, but hey. As long as it works.

Blood looks like he’s personally offended by both of their speeches, but then starts rambling in the strange language again.

This time it takes longer, and suddenly Tim feels the signs on his chest heat up again. Except this time, they feel like their burning into, almost _through_ his flesh. Like they’re being seared into his very soul.

The heat keeps increasing, around his throat, too. Especially there, and suddenly, with a jolt, it’s like his entire being is ripped out of him, and he screams.

He drops to his knees, as does Jason next to him, and they’re still clutching each other’s hands.

Now the heat spreads from his throat all throughout his body, making every fiber of his being scream in agony. And then the sound suddenly gets different, because Jason’s voice fades out, and the pain stops.

The scream gets stuck in Tim’s throat. He sucks in a shaky breath. The marks on his body still burn, though only on his chest. He’s drenched in sweat, despite the cold.

He looks to his side. His hand is still clutching Jason’s, but the taller man has passed out, it seems.

Suddenly, Tim realizes. It wasn’t his pain around his throat, it was _Jason’s_.

Incredible.

Then he panicks. Jason has just _passed out_.

"What’s wrong?", he asks, voice frantic and raw. He tries to get up and move closer to Jason, but his legs almost give out under him.

"He’s fine. Just unconscious. I had to channel the magical energy through one of you two, and he got the brunt of it," Blood explains as he calmly stuffs the paper sheet back into his pocket.

"Why _him_?” It’s a bit unsettling, as Tim suddenly realizes that he’s not upset that Blood seems to think Tim’s too weak, but that he _hurt Jason_.

"Because channeling magic through a vampire that came back from the dead works way better, and putting that strain on you would have likely ripped you apart. He should be fine in a few hours. Then you can start experimenting with it, since bonds are as individual as the people they bind."

"Are all bonds this… destructive?", Tim asks, because he can’t really believe that. He feels like he almost _died_. Very slowly he manages to wobble closer to Jason on his knees, pulling the man’s head from the cold rooftop and onto his lap to check the breathing. At least that’s steady, as well as the heartbeat.

Then he notices Blood’s looking at him. “Boy,” he rumbles, “I think you’re underestimating the power of the bond I gave you. This is one of the most ancient and powerful spells ever invented. It’s dependent on the people bound and their relationship, but especially your friend there gives it an unbelievable amount of energy. If you two manage to sort out your differences, the magic connecting you could do _incredible_ things.”

And with those words, Blood takes his bag, and leaves through the door.

Tim can’t do anything but stare after him for a moment.

This… doesn’t seem right.

Sure, they asked Blood for help, but. This seems like a lot of effort for helping out two people associated with a man that worked with you once or twice. _Suspiciously_ much effort.

Then a gust of wind blows over them, and Tim shivers so violently that he’s snapped out of his thinking.

Right, clothes.

He almost forgot about those.

Jason’s unmoving body was just a bit too… unsettling.


	7. December 7th - The Day Jason Does a Handstand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It’s a fucking _collar_ ,” he complains, almost hissing and indignation obvious in his voice.
> 
> Tim hasn’t had his coffee yet and looks at the growling vampire on his couch with mild interest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting swamped with kudos and comments and I'm a very happy person right now. Thank you all so much!  
> Now I'm just hoping that university stuff won't take up too much time, because only a few more chapters are prewritten. Time management. Ugh.

05:37 am

Jason’s body hurts. All over. He knows, he thought his body hurt four days ago when Tim blinded him. But this, right now, feels so much _worse_.

He’s lying on something soft. It’s warm, maybe due to the blanket over him. There’s a heavy weight against his thighs.

With a groan Jason forces himself to open his eyes.

It takes a moment for his vision to focus on his surroundings. He’s back in Tim’s “super secret” safe house, on the couch. Three different fuzzy blankets are thrown over him, one of them is even from Tim’s bed, if he’s not mistaken. Tim himself is leaning against his legs, laptop on one knee as he’s typing.

"I feel like complete shit. What happened?" he complains, voice rough, and wow, even his throat hurts like hell. Tim however looks pretty fine. Very unfair.

The last thing Jason remembers is… Blood chanting his spell. His body and the mark around his throat started to burn, then everything hurt, and at one point… Things are a little fuzzy. He might have passed out due to the pain. It felt like everything ever important to him was physically and forcefully ripped out, while the marks strangled him.

His hand goes to his throat. Everything feels fine from outside, but that doesn’t have to mean anything.

"You passed out at one point. Blood said that could be expected," Tim explains, his typing slowing down but still not stopping. The young man is wearing two hoodies at once and still looks like he’s cold, so Jason guesses it can’t have been too long since the ritual. "I dragged your heavy ass inside, washed off the sharpie and then made sure you were comfortable."

"Thanks," Jason mutters, a bit miffed that apparently Tim got out of the whole deal without painfully passing out. Then again, the kid had to stand on the roof half-naked in December, so there may be some justice in this world after all.

"The marks are still there, by the way. They’re permanent," Tim then adds, and Jason nods.

He still feels a bit out of it, but having some sort of tattoo isn’t the worst thing he could possibly think of. Whatever Blood scribbled on his throat can’t be too bad, he guesses. Not worse than killing little kids because he can’t control himself, anyway.

"Daddy Bats is gonna be so upset with you, Timmy. I can still hear him. _'No permanent marks, too identifiable'_.” The thought of Bruce finding out about little Timmy having a tattoo - and Jason saw what Blood drew on his chest, it’s fucking huge - is almost funny.

"Let’s hope we can avoid that for some more time," Tim grunts, and he looks a bit more intimidated than amused. Figures.

But it gets Jason to another track of thought. He sits up, taking the blankets with him and putting two of them over Tim’s shoulders. Because his partner getting a cold would _still_ not be useful, especially now that he needs to stop Jason from eating people, okay?

"Why aren’t you telling the other bats what’s going on, anyway?" he asks Tim, trying his best to make his voice sound casual, though they both know he’s not. This particular thing has been nagging him ever since they first decided to work together.

Tim isn’t having a fight with anyone right now, as far as Jason’s informed. But he still chose not to tell any of them that the Red Hood turned vampire is currently sleeping on his couch because they’re working on a case together. Even more so, Tim is hiding from them, not relaying any information, nothing. They’re even still at the safehouse that not even Bruce knows about.

The typing stops and Tim goes very still. “I can’t,” he mutters after a while, voice almost not audible because he’s so quiet. He’s not looking at Jason, eyes fixed to some point that’s not really there, somewhere behind his laptop screen.

"Why?" Jason asks again, because it’s not an answer at all, but it also didn’t sound like "stop asking".

Tim’s quiet again. Then. “Because if I told them, they would lock you up.”

Jason…

Jason doesn’t know what to think of that.

Not at all.

"What?" He’s… confused. More than just confused, actually. Is Tim seriously risking his good relationship with his family just because he thinks he needs to protect Jason from… something?

Now Tim’s gaze shifts to him, very sad and a bit shy, but also sure about what he’s saying. “The Red Hood is not an ally. You’ve been… volatile and brutal and just because you stopped killing for a while there, doesn’t mean you were considered back on our side. Now imagine, what if this notorious , violent, mentally unstable part-time-villain were to become a metahuman with enhanced abilities, and also an added thirst for blood. What do you think Bruce would do?”

Jason shrugs. He can’t… He can, he just doesn’t _want_ to answer that. “He would’ve locked me away,” he mutters as realization suddenly hits him. He… He didn’t even think about this before, like this. But Tim’s right. If he wasn’t working with Red Robin, he would’ve probably lost control sooner. More often. Actually killed a lot more of people.

Batman would’ve had no choice but to lock him up. Get that reinforced steel he developed with Superman’s help and shipped Jason off to Arkham or Blackgate, or maybe somewhere even worse.

Somewhere even a person with superhuman abilities, and Batman’s and assassin league training couldn’t possibly escape from.

And he wouldn’t have let Jason go until they had a solution to the problem, at least the vampire part. And seeing as the best possible option they found was to make him Tim’s magic slave and Tim his future meal, he… “He wouldn’t have let me go. I’d be locked up forever,” he almost whispers the last words.

Tim nods.

God. Fuck.

 _Jesus_.

Jason can’t… he’s been so preoccupied with all the changes over the last few days, he didn’t even _think_ of that. And Tim thought so far ahead, took all these things into consideration and decided to trust Jason enough to hide the whole affair from Bruce, even after Jason threatened him with a knife just two nights prior…

God.

He’s… a bit very much amazed right now.

Sure, he’s always known that Tim’s smart and loves to plan ahead a lot more than he himself does, but… Tim took a lot of risks, just to keep Jason safe.

It… It feels like a really big thing.

His stomach area is fucking _tingling_.

Tim ruins Jason’s moment of awe by yawning loudly. When Jason turns to stare at him, he shrugs, a bit embarrassed. “Didn’t sleep much,” he mumbles. “Still can’t find anything on C. I think I’m gonna catch some sleep and then we’ll look into this bond thing, ‘kay?”

Jason nods and watches Tim trot away with the two blankets still over his shoulders. The dark bags under his eyes seem like part of Tim’s face already, he’s so used to the sleep-deprived look, he doesn’t even notice anymore…

He needs to make sure the babybird doesn’t fall asleep and fall off a roof one day, probably.

~*~

10:48 am

It’s 10:48 am, when Tim shuffles out of his room again. He still looks tired, now that Jason’s paying attention, but that’s not what matters right now.

What matters is that, when the sun started to rise and Jason didn’t trust the blinds anymore, he went into the bathroom again. He looked into the mirror - he still has a mirror image, thank god for that - and that was the first time he actually really saw the marks on his throat.

The one sign in the middle is the same one Tim has on his chest, too, the… unity symbol it was, right?

Well. The rest of the marks look like a fucking _collar_.

A magical slave collar, branded onto his throat for all eternity.

Fucking great.

His first thought had been to storm into Tim’s room and demand a fucking explanation. Tim didn’t even _tell_ him the thing looked like that, for fuck’s sake!

But then he remembered how Tim was dead on his feet already, and forced himself to wait on the couch until Tim was done sleeping, all the while carefully avoiding the rays of sunshine that came in through the blinds.

But now that Tim is back - five hours is awfully little sleep, Jason will really have to talk with him - nothing and no one can stop Jason anymore.

"It’s a fucking _collar_ ,” he complains, almost hissing and indignation obvious in his voice.

Tim hasn’t had his coffee yet and looks at the growling vampire on his couch with mild interest.

Okay, so maybe coffee still stands between Jason and this serious conversation they need to have about things, but _then_ nothing and no one can stop him anymore.

After Tim has enjoyed his caffeine, sip for torturously slow sip, Jason repeats his complaint.

"It’s a collar, Tim."

"I’m aware," Tim gives back, still not looking the least bit more interested. Jason sort of feels like punching that expressionless little face. "I didn’t put it there, though, and I can’t make it go away, either."

Jason seethes. Lets out a hissing breath between his teeth to calm down. “Fine,” he growls then. He still doesn’t like it at all. Looks like he’s going to wear a lot of turtlenecks from now on.

Tim eats a bit of breakfast, then they settle on the couch that seems to slowly but surely turn into their main base for everything they do. Very professional.

"Alright. So how do we do this?", Jason asks, and Tim shrugs at him.

"No idea. Maybe I should just… tell you something and hope you do it?"

"Fine," he answers, pressing his lips together in distaste. The way he understood it, Tim can tell him to do _anything_ , and Jason will have no choice but to do it.

This is… It’s why he chose Tim. Tim wouldn’t… make Jason a puppet or use him for his own means.

And right now the kid’s looking really fucking nervous, pale and sweating, almost like he would rather faint on the spot than actually give Jason an order.

"I," Tim starts, stops, takes a deep breath. He rubs his fingers over his temples, then looks at Jason. "I order you not to kill or feed from anyone without my explicit permission."

They both look at each other in silence for a moment.

"Sooo," Jason drawls. "I guess we won’t find out if _that_ worked any time soon. Care to try something else?”

Tim’s hands twitch. He curles up a little bit. “Um. Do a handstand then?”

Jason wants to snort. Yeah, right, as if he would actually…

His world turns upside-down, literally, because his arms and legs have decided for him to do as Tim says. And really, it’s the most logical and best thing to do, after all-

“ _What the fuck, Tim?!_ ”, he almost shouts and drops back to the floor. He’s back on his feet instantly, right in front of that little fucker who’s flinching back now.

"Back up!", Tim orders with his hands raised in a defense position. Jason’s at the other side of the room before he even knows it.

He wants to complain about that, too, because seriously, what does that brat think he’s allowed to order Jason to do here, but then he notices-

Everything’s so very bright and sharp, the way things always are when his pupils go wide. He’s growling and showing his teeth like a wild animal. It’s… no wonder actually Tim looks like he’s about to whip out every weapon he has available.

Jason forces his breathing to slow and snaps his mouth shut.

"Don’t worry, I’m… in control." He tries his reassuring voice, and it can’t be completely wrong, because after a few more tense seconds Tim’s hands go down again and the fight bleeds out of his body.

Tim nods. “Okay. Sorry.” He slumps backwards onto the couch.

Jason tries to step forward, and… it works. No urge to stay plastered to the wall like he had until just now. “I think the commands might be temporally limited,” he remarks.

Tim gives him a tired look when he sits down on the other end. “Yeah. Maybe for as long as I want them to work?”

Jason agrees with a nod. “Yeah, seems like it. So, we conclude that this ‘bossing me around because we’re _bonded_ ' thing works?”

"Mhmm", Tim hums, leaning back and closing his eyes. He really looks like he should’ve slept some more. The dark circles seem like they’re part of his face, but they’re really not supposed to. And now that the vampire sleeping habits allow Jason to actually get enough sleep, he’s learnt to appreciate not being dead on his feet all the time.

Tim doesn’t go back to sleep, though, no matter how much Jason tries to convince him.

Instead, they both do research, since the sun is stopping Jason from going out.

At least Tim looks up about two or three times every hour to explain to Jason very clearly that he’d never, really never use this bond if it wasn’t necessary. As long as Jason doesn’t try to eat or kill someone, they can go on almost like nothing’s happened.

Which is nice, since it means Jason won’t end up in Arkham as a crazy murdering vampire vigilante.

But it also… It’s not like ‘nothing’s happened’, is it?

A week ago Jason’s maximum contemplation of Tim was how to best take him out in a fight, how to maybe hurt the annoying little replacement.

And now they’re… They’re sitting on Tim’s couch, the last blanket between them over their legs because Tim’s heating is stubborn at times. Jason’s a vampire, and bonded to Tim. They’re avoiding the rest of the bats together and are trying to solve a really important case in cooperation.

Things are almost peaceful, and… Jason’s not entirely sure what happened?

How did they end up here, with their toes touching under a hideous orange blanket?

~*~

07:07 pm

They’re having instant soup for dinner. It doesn’t even taste too bad.

Eating with Tim, without trying to stab each other with the cutlery, still feels a bit surreal, but they deal. Eating separately would be a waste of time, anyway.

It’s really dark outside, so they’ll head out soon, look for C or any other vampire again, on top of the usual patrol stuff. That’s a bit modified right now in order to avoid the bats.

But first they’re having cream tomato soup, and it’s kind of nice.

Maybe Jason will find a way to make Tim go to bed earlier, and let him sleep longer, because otherwise the kid is going to forget something important like shooting a grapple line and end up dead.

That’s not really one of Jason’s main goals right now.

Actually, Tim is… He doesn’t look as leery and wary as before anymore, doesn’t glance at Jason every few seconds to make sure he won’t be attacked.

It feels good, in a way. Jason is… He’s actually doing it. Tim’s starting to trust him again.

And this time, he sure as hell won’t fuck it up by trying to kill the kid or some stupid shit.

He’s so happy about these developments, he can even forgive Tim for making instant soup.

That’s not a meal. It’s hot water with a flavor that’s so odd it can’t be called tea anymore. It doesn’t do anything to fill the stomach. After eating almost twice as much as Tim, Jason gives up. Fuck the soup, they didn’t even have bread with it, just soup alone is not enough.

They need to go out and start working. So Jason does his best to push aside how he still feels… hungry.


	8. December 8th - The Day Fate Really has it Out for Jason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is there a _genuine photograph_ of the Red Hood with eyes all black like coal and long glinting teeth, seconds away from biting a half-dead looking Red Robin, from just around the time when Tim disappeared?
> 
> He’s the world’s greatest detective. And the clues he has are… quite telling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special surprise POV today =) And more dark foreshadowing, just to keep things interesting...

03:14 am

It hasn’t even been an hour since Jason stuffed himself full with chili dogs. He almost felt sick immediately after, when he and Tim were stopping three muggers while looking for any signs of vampires.

He’s afraid he can’t deny it any longer.

He’s hungry, but not in the way that demands food. The regular human kind of food, that is.

It’s not even really hunger. It’s a weird mix between hunger and thirst, and it comes with an encreasingly nice smell of people around him. By now Tim’s throat looks way tastier than the chili dogs did, and that is already very telling.

But… Jason doesn’t want to tell Tim about this. Not exactly. He’s not even completely sure why, it’s just… He’s a bit embarrassed, he guesses.

Jason Blood said a vampire could go about five to fifteen days without blood before they started to starve. And he sort of imagined that with his bat training and a bit of determination he could last those fifteen days, maybe even longer. Hell, he could’ve lasted longer as a human without normal food.

So, feeling like he really, really needs to drink blood right now is quite disappointing. It’s only been, what? Seven or eight days since he was turned. That’s barely half the time he wanted to make.

Jason growls angrily and hits one of the muggers they just ambushed maybe a little harder than necessary. Controlling his strength was a bit of an issue at the start, but he’s getting the hang of it now, mostly.

Red Robin looks over at him. There’s that disapproving little frown to his lips, and it makes Jason even angrier.

No way he’s going to tell that obnoxious little brat that he’s feeling hungry.

~*~

05:47 pm

The sun has mostly set by now, the sky is almost black, and Jason feels awful.

No, really.

His body has taken it onto itself to acquaint Jason with a whole new meaning for that word. He’s had bones broken and cuts and bruises, been through metahumans and explosions and psychopathic murderers, hell, he _died_ …

But what he’s feeling right now, is a completely different and worse kind of miserable.

He’s curled up on the couch, trying his hardest to ignore Tim’s footsteps pattering over the floor. Part of Jason is getting a headache from it, and the other part wants to launch himself at the noise, hold Tim down and push his teeth into that neck.

God, Jason can almost taste the blood on his tongue, and it makes his mouth water…

Tim’s looking at him, apparently, because he leans into his line of vision with a concerned look on his face. “Your pupils are a bit… wider.”

Jason grumbles, flipping over to the side so he doesn’t have to watch how nice Tim’s throat looks and moves and pulsates with life when he’s talking. And by now Jason’s so fed up with the general state of things, that he’s willing to be honest. “I’m hungry.”

"Please tell me it’s because you want another one of those god-awful chili dogs?" Tim asks, but going by the sound of his voice, he already knows it’s not.

"No, it isn’t," Jason mutters nevertheless. "I feel like… blood-hungry. And you’re looking more and more delicious, by the way. Smell, too."

"Why, thank you," Tim remarks dryly. "Are you sure you need something now, though? It’s only been about seven days since you turned, and Blood said-"

"I know what Blood said, okay?!" Jason hisses angrily. God, his insides are killing him. It feels like they’re clawing themselves apart with how empty they are. And his entire body feels cold and weak. But at the same time, he’s getting increasingly pissed off, though that might just be Tim. "I fucking know! But I can’t exactly help it!"

Tim’s moved back a little again, Jason can almost feel it. Looks like he doesn’t fully trust a hungry vampire after all. Smart kid. “I think you should try to control yourself for some more time.” Then again, maybe he’s just annoying as fuck.

"What does it look like I’m doing?" Jason growls darkly. That fucking know-it-all doesn’t even have a clue what Jason’s going through here. He should better shut up.

~*~

11:02 pm

Of course, something has to go wrong again.

Jason’s hunger is still getting worse. If he was as much of a nerd as Tim, he’d probably say it’s growing exponentially - just a tiny little bit in the beginning, but then so rapidly he can hardly believe it.

But he’s not a nerd, so he’s just going to go with ‘hungry as all fuck’.

He feels cold and empty and maybe just a little bit desperate, and every human being they encounter on their search for the vampires smells so incredibly… warm and nice and hot and tasty and filling that it makes Jason short on breath and distracts him so much he gets whacked in the head with a fucking chair and barely notices it because all he wants is a tiny little bite…

Still, he has control. Years of training. An indomitable mind.

Things just aren’t that easy sometimes, and he swears fate really has it out for him.

Red Hood and Red Robin encounter two perps rubbing a store, and split up to go after the silly little running men who did the same. This is where fate really starts making its hate for Jason known.

Because the stupid guy he’s following fucking _stumbles_. The idiot’s shoe catches on his other leg, he falls down, skids over the road, hits his head along the way, and when he comes up again, his right cheek is grazed open and he’s got a nose bleed.

A fucking _nose bleed_.

Now, middle-aged thieves with nose bleeds tend to not be too attractive.

But Jason’s senses are so much better now, and his mind has barely registered the image of the flashing red, before his nose picks up the scent.

It’s the goddamn best thing Jason has ever smelled, rattling through his brain, before everything shuts off again.

Street and sound and finding the vampires all fade out, because the only thing that matters is how badly Jason needs that blood.

~*~

11:08 pm

Tim has entertained the thought that yes, splitting up was probably a bad idea. They still haven’t completely figured out the bond stuff, especially since Jason doesn’t feel like being experimented with and Tim doesn’t feel like playing mad scientist. And letting the newly turned vampire who just started complaining about being hungry run lose, was maybe not the smartest thing to do.

Well, it was _definitely_ not the smartest thing to do, that much is pretty obvious.

Tim is quite glad he’s already zip-tied the guy he caught when he hears an absolutely horrified scream for help tear through the air.

It sounds like it could be the other robber, and the distance matches as well.

Tim’s speeding up as much as possible to get there, and when he drops into the alley, it’s exactly what he feared it would be.

Red Hood is out with his lense-less domino again, so the completely black eyes are visible. He only needs one hand to hold the robber up against the brick wall, and judging by the man’s face it’s also putting on enough pressure to almost strangle him. The other hand has ripped away the jacket and shirt at the throat.

The vampire is snarling and hissing, teeth glinting in the sparse light.

The only thing that’s really weird is that although there’s already been enough time, the vampire still hasn’t bitten.

Then Tim remembers. He forbid Jason from feeding on anyone, after the bond.

 _That’s_ why the vampire’s just standing there, looking frozen in motion, as it has its prey right in front of it and wants to feed, but _can’t_.

Red Robin swallows down a sigh of relief, steels himself mentally to sound sure. “Let that man down,” he orders, voice steady enough to not sound a little amazed and intimidated at what he’s witnessing here. There’s a flare of bright pain in his head, like something’s trying to tug his brain out through his skull. It’s… resistance. Active and brutal and unrelenting. But the pain fades after what can’t have been more than a moment, leaving nothing but a dull throb.

The vampire’s black eyes turn to him. They look eerie and a little terryfing, there’s almost no white left at the sides. Just giant, pitch black orbs that seem to see nothing but _prey_. There’s a vicious hiss coming from between long sharp teeth, but the man gets dropped down.

Still the vampire looks like it very much wants to kill Tim for denying it from feeding.

"You’re not allowed to attack me," Tim adds, just to make sure. "Zip-tie that man, then follow me."

~*~

11:27 pm

Jason’s mind is a mess.

For a while there was a focus, and he had something he really wanted, really _needed, right in front of him_.

He just can’t reach it. It’s awful. It’s _killing_ him. Literally.

And then it gets… ripped away from him.

He _needs_ it, goddamnit. He’s going to fucking _murder_ that fucker who kept him from getting his prey.

Then everything gets worse. Colors and shapes swirl and lose focus more and more. There’s a screaming static sound in his ears that keeps getting louder, and the pain in his head and in his insides is tearing him apart.

He wants to shout, to scream, to hit someone, kill him, anything to make this agony stop-

He needs _blood_.

"-on? Come back to me, Jason!"

The sound starts washed out and then intensifies until it’s like someone’s screaming into his ears, voice so loud it makes his brain hurt and bones vibrate.

The colors swirling and floating around him change directions, and for a moment Jason feels so dizzy he almost throws up.

And then, suddenly, Tim’s face is right in front of him, wide gray-blue eyes with dark circles beneath, staring at him. He’s sitting on the couch again. The ugly orange blanket is crumpled over his legs.

"W-What…?" he asks, and it’s the most intelligent thing he can manage right now.

It seems to be enough for Tim though, because he sighs in relief and moves back. “Great, you’re out of killing mode. You looked like you wanted to rip out my throat.”

Jason blinks at him in confusion. What is Tim talking about? What happened? The last thing he remembers…

Oh.

The last thing clear in his memory is the splatter of shiny dark red drops.It makes him snap his mouth shut, the overwhelming urge to jump Tim and get what he wants, what he needs right now-

"Did I kill anyone?" he asks. His voice is rough and his throat hurts. It kind of makes him wonder what vampire-him does with it. Does he make those animal-like noises? He sometimes catches himself growling or hissing when he gets upset.

"No," Tim answers, and a bit of the tension leaves Jason’s body. "I… You were about to, I wasn’t in time. But it seems that order I gave you yesterday worked. You… just didn’t feed."

Jason nods, slowly. That’s at least something, he guesses. The bond actually does give Tim the power to control him enough to prevent any killing or feeding.

On the con side, he’s still hungry. It almost feels like he can hear Tim’s hearbeat thump in his ears.

"You need to order me not to attack you or try to bite you." He looks at Tim who seems a bit startled at that. "I feel like I’m going to jump you soon, otherwise."

Tim’s surprise fades a grim expression. “I already did. Your… Your entire irises are still black.”

~*~

11:50 pm

Bruce is… worried.

Things are difficult, in Gotham, always have been.

He faces a lot of challenges and difficulties, hardships and losses. But there are always the cases that cut deeper, that worry him more. Because they involve _family_.

Red Robin is. Smart. Capable. Well trained and witty, not too brash. Always careful, cunning. Always dutiful enough to report back what he found.

Red Robin is his son, of sorts. It’s always difficult to tell with their family, and at the same time the only thing that’s clear.

Red Robin has been missing in action for more than a full week now.

Bruce doesn’t like it, not at all. He’s looked everywhere. Contacted the Titans and everyone else Tim could have gone to, but it appears he never left Gotham.

Still, he’s not at any of his known hide-outs or bases or safe-houses. He can’t be reached with the comm link or any other communications. All contact with Red Robin has been lost seven days ago, and he’s nowhere to be found.

Bruce’s best lead - and that is the really odd part, but also mildly upsetting - is an article with a photograph from the Gotham Gazette, of all things.

Vicky Vale’s apparent opinion on Red Robin’s recent disappearance is that he was either killed or abducted by the Red Hood. Who is a vampire.

The Gotham Gazette publishes ridiculous articles like this pretty much every time any bat doesn’t show up for some time. It’s usually nothing to worry about, something to be amused over even.

But this time, they have a photograph. A photograph that Bruce has tested with every method available to man and then some, but it still appears to be _genuine_.

Why is there a _genuine photograph_ of the Red Hood with eyes all black like coal and long glinting teeth, seconds away from biting a half-dead looking Red Robin, from just around the time when Tim disappeared?

He’s the world’s greatest detective. And the clues he has are… quite telling.

But he just. Can’t.

He’s dealt with a lot of supernatural things in his line of work. But, vampires? In Gotham? And the Red Hood being one of them and taking Red Robin?

It seems so… unreal.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Red Robin’s been missing ever since, and the Red Hood hasn’t shown up, either.

The line he has set up to the police cracks. Bullock’s voice is a little static-y, but clear.

"… just brought in two store-robbers, both zip-tied with bat equipment. One of them was half strangled to death and is terrified. He won’t stop talking about the two vampires that attacked him, dressed like Red Hood and Red Robin…"

Bruce goes… he just goes.

He doesn’t know what to think of this, what to think of _any_ of this, but it’s the first time he has gotten a real hint.

And just because he doesn’t like the picture of the situation, he still sees it developing.

Red Hood a vampire, taking Red Robin with him. Now two vampires looking like them appear.

Bruce doesn’t know what happened to his son, but he has a pretty clear idea, and he will damn sure find out what it was and get him back.


	9. December 9th - The Day the Mystery of Glittering is Solved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, god, this is bad. Tim doesn’t want this alliance to end because of ‘suicide by sunlight’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just overslept five hours. It's only Tuesday. This is not good...
> 
> Anyway, actual plot today.

03:21 am

It’s a bit like having a complicated knot - once you’ve managed to find one lose end and pull, the whole thing gets unravelled.

That is what the investigation of Red Robin’s disappearance feels like.

The mysterious photograph in the Gotham Gazette didn’t give Batman much. Sure, witness reports and other proof all made it clear that Vicky Vale’s telling of what happened was probably accurate. The vampire Red Hood attacked Red Robin, then both of them disappeared.

But that didn’t get him anywhere… It only made him worry more, since it’s apparently mostly true.

So Batman looked into potential hide-outs of the Red Hood, looked into where and how he would be able to hold Red Robin, without risking that Tim would escape or send out a signal. Or where Hood could… dispose of the body.

Batman… Bruce. Bruce doesn’t like to think that Jason would actually kill Tim. It’s not for a lack of trying before, but in the last few months… It seemed as if Jason had been getting better. Still violent, still killing the criminals he felt deserved it, but there had been no definite attempts on the lives of any members of the family anymore.

But now? The photograph doesn’t seem to be manipulated in any way, Batman made sure, he got the original. Yet it shows the Red Hood with long teeth and almost completely black eyes, just about to kill Red Robin.

If… _If_ Vale’s and everyone else’s theory of the Red Hood being a vampire is correct… well, it’s not like Batman can say for sure that it _wouldn’t_ make him kill Red Robin.

Assuming that vampires exist and Jason was recently turned into one, he can’t make any assumptions on how that would influence his behavior. The Red Hood in the photograph doesn’t look particularly controlled or calm or thinking or… sane. The Red Hood in the photograph looks so vastly different from the usual Red Hood, even at his most hateful moments, that Batman can hardly call him Red Hood at all.

That… _creature_ in the picture is… a vampire. Nothing more. It doesn’t look like a person, especially not like the son he’s lost. There is nothing in that expression but hunger.

The gist is. He doesn’t know what happened to Jason. And therefore he doesn’t know what happened to Tim.

But this new hint, it changed a lot in his viewing of the situation.

For all he knew, Red Robin could have been dead. It wasn’t a nice thought, and he’s well aware that he was out of his mind with worry these past few days. With all the recent murders, the ones that now seem to be commited by vampires, he thought it best to send most of the others out of town. Only Nightwing is still around, and Bruce tries his best to put him on the other cases. Everything but this one.

He also contacted Zatara. But Zatara couldn’t tell him much, mystical creatures are after all hardly his area of expertise, and referred him to Jason Blood. But Blood is not answering any of his attempts to contact him. So for now, the only information he has is that vampires are real, and in Gotham.

And now the police message. His first step of action was to talk to Bullock and the mugger in question who saw… Red Hood and Red Robin. Together.

That gives things a whole new angle. Batman assumed… and this is something he hates himself for, because he was so wrong, and of course that’s why he couldn’t find them anywhere, he assumed Red Hood would be holding Red Robin against his will.

But if they’re apparently working together, that means it’s not Red Hood threatening Red Robin. They’re cooperating. They’re not in any of Hood’s hide-outs that are capable of holding Red Robin captured, because that’s not necessary at all.

They could be… anywhere.

Bruce is aware that Tim has a few hide-outs of which he doesn’t know the positions. Assuming that Tim is working _with_ Jason instead of against him, they could be in any of those.

It makes things a lot more complicated.

As far as he knew, Tim and Jason didn’t exactly have the best of relationships. There was no love lost between them, they had vastly different opinions on everything, and after all the things that happened, Tim has been very distrustful of Jason.

The question is. Has that changed?

Have they, for whatever reason, decided to set aside their differences and work together? Or is it something else. Something worse.

Zatara’s main advice was to not underestimate what vampires are capable of. Most things attributed to them in fiction might be innacurate, but not completely wrong. So Batman can assume… a lot.

Has Jason bitten Tim? Is that why they’re working together? Are vampires actually capable of hypnotizing or mind-controlling their victims? Is he making Tim do this?

Bruce… doesn’t want to jump to wrong conclusions. But on the other hand, he’s not going to get anywhere without making assumptions.

What he can safely say for now is that Red Hood and Red Robin seem to be linked or involved with the vampire murders all across town. And now that he’s looking into those instead of potential places that could hold Red Robin, he’s finally finding people.

People who saw both Hood and Red Robin, people who say they were, though uneasily, working together. People who say that they’re definitely looking for the vampires as well.

And then there is the statement from the mugger they apparently caught a few hours ago. The mugger who says that the Red Hood was crazy and out of control and trying to drink his blood, until Red Robin stepped in and… _commanded_ the mad vampire to stop.

Batman can hardly make any assumptions about that. How could he, if things don’t make any sense at all?

Up until a few hours ago he thought Jason was the one pulling the strings, was the one he needed to get Tim away from. But now… Now it almost sounds as if Tim is the one in control.

What is he supposed to make of that?

~*~

10:07 am

It’s… a bit odd, Tim thinks to himself.

Jason is sleeping on the couch, the ugly orange blanket leisurely thrown over his legs. He looks so… peaceful. Calm. Even with his mouth half open and the fangs visible.

They established pretty early on that apparently being a vampire means needing significantly less sleep. Jason could nod off for two or three hours, and still feel well rested. Tim didn’t even see him sleep at all, those first few days. And if vampirism didn’t also come with being a bloodthirsty monster, Tim would have signed up for it on the spot. Sleeping only half as much as he does and still not being tired? Hell yes.

But now Jason’s been asleep for four hours and still hasn’t woken up.

Tim wonders if it’s because Jason needs blood now? Or if it maybe only was initially after the change that he needed to sleep so little? Blood has been vague on almost every piece of information he gave them, and also added that many things might be different in the first few weeks after the change.

When Tim got up, he was surprised to find Jason still snoring on the couch. They went to sleep around the same time, and up until now Jason has already been awake by the time Tim woke up.

And now. Now the vampire’s still fast asleep, face slack and relaxed. One leg is hanging off the couch. There’s occasionally a quiet snore to be heard. And Tim swears to god he’s never noticed how long Jason’s eyelashes are before. Like. He’s pretty sure most women don’t have lashes that long and dark.

They’re fluttering against slightly tanned cheek bones, and then slowly open to reveal sleepy eyes. Tim wants to move back for a moment, but… The eyes are their usual teal color again, the black pupils nothing more than tiny slits in the middle. After that pitch black emptiness a few hours ago this is very… comforting.

"What’re you lookin’ at? Did I try t’eat somon’ again?" Jason mumbles, and part of Tim notes how he’s also not instantly aware of his surroundings anymore, and another part is just. Completely fascinated with whatever this is.

He’s not sure if Jason is joking or not, so he answers seriously. “You didn’t. I’m surveilling your sleeping habits. They’ve changed.”

Jason grunts and scrunches up his nose, before he sits up and pushes the orange blanket aside.

Tim moves back, gets to his feet and goes to get his laptop, because… Whatever this moment just was, it’s over now, and he doesn’t like _at all_ how weird it’s making him feel.

~*~

12:34 pm

They’ve settled down to work on the case again, in their usual places on the couch, Tim on the right edge, Jason on the left, and the fuzzy orange monstrosity of a blanket in the middle as a border that’s making sure they stay apart.

"Hey, Tim," Jason asks into the silence, and the clattering of computer keys from the right half of the couch stops.

"Mh?" Tim gives back in reply, still typing to hack into different surveillance cameras across town. They still haven’t found C, and it’s frustrating, not only because of the woman’s pretty unique appearance, but also because finding any other vampire is difficult as hell. Like. What are they supposed to look for? They basically look like normal humans with a bit longer than usual canine teeth, and slitted pupils. There is not a single surveillance camera on earth to pick that up.

"We forgot to ask Blood about what happens when a vampire gets hit by sunlight, right?"

"Mhm?" Tim replies with another nod, though that wasn’t really a question. They probably should find that out, before Jason accidentally kills himself that way. And he still hasn’t gotten his and Jason’s blood transfusion bags out of lockdown. Now that they know they won’t set off Jason’s feral side, he should probably do that-

"I want to find out now," Jason says, and Tim. Tim really wants to believe he’s misheard.

He stops typing and looks up. “You want _what_?”

"I want to find out now," Jason repeats, and… He _looks_ serious. Tim doesn’t like it at all.

"Jason, we don’t know what will happen. What if you just drop dead?"

"If it was that important to avoid sunlight, Blood would’ve mentioned it. But he only said that I can still be killed by the same things that kill a normal human," Jason argues. Tim has to admit that it does make sense, of sorts, but still.

"What if he forgot to mention it?"

"He remembered to mention that I can die from electrocution like a normal person, I don’t think he would forget to mention sunlight if it was that important." Jason still looks serious.

Oh god, god, this is bad. Tim doesn’t want this alliance to end because of ‘suicide by sunlight’. “Don’t you think it would be better to just call Blood and ask?”

"Nope", Jason says and- Oh god, he’s standing up and walking to the spot where one of the blinds is directly blocking out the light. He’s really going to do this now. "Pull up the blinds, Tim, I want to find out!"

"Can’t you just _ask_?” Tim tries again, but Jason just stubbornly crosses his arms over his chest.

They stare at each other in silence for several moments, but then. Tim doesn’t know what kind of insanity is driving him, but he gives in.

"Fine, have it your way." He gets up, walks over to the blind and sends one last look at Jason. "You sure?"

"Yes," Jason replies, voice steady and expression still so serious. Tim sighs again. This is all natural selection, he tells himself as he starts pulling up the blind. If Jason is actually stupid enough to get himself killed by sunlight, evolution will sort him out. Only beings with a certain minimum survival instinct can make it in life.

When the blind is fully up, Tim turns back to Jason, who’s standing directly in the light that’s now coming through the window.

He has uncrossed his arms at one point, hands up to shield his eyes from the brightness that still seems to be a problem for him. The light is doing all sorts of nice things by creating shadows over very defined muscles. It’s as intriguing as it’s making Tim jealous, because no matter what he does, he’s always going to look like a stick compared to Jason’s physique.

Then he snaps back. Why the hell is he even staring at Jason’s body like this at all? Scientific research, probably. That’s the answer. Vampire physiology is a very interesting topic.

"So?" Jason asks expectantly, looking down at himself, squinting, then back to Tim. "Please tell me I’m not glittering?"

"You’re not," Tim states, and is just about to conclude that apparently sunlight doesn’t influence Jason’s new vampire body at all, when- "You’re smoking."

It gets him a confused blink and… Is that a light flush on Jason’s cheeks? Then a slightly embarrassed grin. “Why, thank you, Timmy, I know I look dashing and all-“

"No, I’m serious. You’re smoking. Like, someone set you on fire kind of smoking."

Jason blinks in confusion again, then looks back at his arms. There’s very distinct smoke spiraling up from them, and now the skin is reddening at an alarming rate. With a yelp Jason jumps back, out of the direct light, swatting at the smoking areas.

"What the fuck? The hell is this supposed to be, I’m- _ouch, hell fucking shit_ ,” Jason starts swearing viciously, so Tim assumes that now the burns also started hurting. He closes the blind again as fast as he can, and by the time he turns around Jason has huddled up in the darkest corner of the room.

"You alright?" he asks and steps closer. Depending on how bad those burns are, they’ll probably have to get Jason some medicine.

"I think I’d rather sparkle," Jason mutters darkly, and. For a moment Tim is really confused, but then he starts snickering. Jason sends him an undignified glare, but then begins to grin as well.

Tim is… not entirely sure why or how, but before long they’re both crouching on the floor and laughing so hard they can barely breathe.

~*~

05:48 pm

By now Jason’s burns have healed. There was some lingering pain, but even that is gone now. His body is back to normal, and he’s learned that stepping into sunlight for more than a few seconds is a really, really bad idea.

He knows that just starting that experiment wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do, okay? He really does. But he still felt hungry in the wrong way, and at least this took his mind off of things for a little while.

And. He’s confused. So very, very confused, because of what happened.

Not because of the burning, that’s at least a better option than turning to dust or stone.

But because of… Tim.

Tim is. They’ve. He’s. They’re.

He.

Jason groans.

He doesn’t know how to end a single one of those sentences. He doesn’t know _anything_ about… This. This really weird thing they have going on here.

He’s. Not sure what it is? Not at all.

They’re. Working together. For a bit more than a week now. And except for the times he went all crazy vampire, they haven’t tried to kill each other.

Jason would even go so far as to say that Tim’s presence is. Nice. Not always annoying. He. He actually enjoys it, quite a lot.

And today, when Tim called him ‘smoking’… He knows Tim didn’t mean it like _that_ , okay? He _knows_. But. It still made him feel really. Nice. And weird.

And they laughed together. At… The whole stupidity of the sunlight experiment, probably, and that was nice, too.

Tim actually just seems like. A very nice person.

And from where they’re sitting separated on the couch again, with Tim furiously typing on his laptop for god knows how many hours straight, Jason can’t for the life of him remember how he could ever hate Tim.

He guesses… He guesses he never actually did hate Tim, not really. He hated who he thought Tim was, the role Tim played in all of this.

 _The replacement_.

It’s… That insult was never directed at Tim himself. He would have used it for anyone and everyone who happened to be in that position. He never hated Tim as a person, because.

Jason was a stupid asshole and had anger issues and a lot of other issues and he liked hitting people a lot more than thinking about them. He’s… He kind of hates himself, for what he did. A lot.

He almost killed… he actually _tried_ to kill Tim. In the beginning, when he didn’t know anything more about Tim than that the boy was Robin now. And when Tim got him out of Arkham, and Jason _should_ have known that Tim was just trying to help and didn’t deserve any of this, but didn’t care and tried to kill him again, anyway.

God, how could he be such an asshole? Tim was… Tim has never done anything to deserve this, to deserve what Jason did to him.

How can he even stand to be in the same room as Jason, now? How can he sleep in the next room over, knowing that Jason is right here?

Jason doesn’t understand it all. Tim is sitting right there, right at the other end of the couch, and he’s so engrossed with his typing, there is no way he could defend himself if Jason attacked him again, right now.

Just. Why?

It doesn’t make sense. Why would Tim ever trust him again, as much as he seems to do right now, even with the power the bond gives him?

Jason is… Jason did such _awful things_ to him.

"Tim?" he asks, swallows when the concentrated focus of those gray eyes moves over to him. He’s not sure what he should say, pretty sure that whatever comes out won’t make up for what he did, but very sure that he needs to do it anyway. "I want to apologize."

Tim blinks. With the enhanced vision that he’s slowly getting used to, Jason can see the slight furrow between elegant brows, confusion at why he would bring this up now, or maybe at what for, because there’s a lot Jason has to apologize for.

"For everything," he adds, and makes himself look back at Tim, even though he’d really rather not. "Everything I did to you. I… You didn’t deserve that. That was all me being stupid and angry and ignorant and the biggest asshole of all times to you, and. I really shouldn’t have. I know this can’t make up for that, but. I really want you to know that I’m not going to pull any stupid shit like that on you again."

Tim looks… taken aback. Surprised. Maybe a bit shocked. Then he nods, very slowly. “Okay,” he mutters, then looks back down to his laptop and types again.

Jason is. Quite sure that’s not the reaction he expected. But then again, he’s not sure what he expected at all. Maybe Tim is just as confused as he is. He’s probably very confused about Jason suddenly bringing this up.

It makes things a bit awkward on the couch. A lot awkward, actually.

Jason gets up and goes to the kitchen to make them dinner.

They probably both need time to deal with… all of this.

~*~

11:54 pm

“ _Fuck you!_ ”, Jason hiss-shouts at him, eyes almost black and canines so obviously displayed that Tim pulls up his bo staff in defense, despite the order he gave Jason not to attack him.

He’s not sure what’s going on with Jason right now. Not sure how the hunger is influencing all of this, either.

Yesterday, it seemed to make the vampire annoyed. Today… Tim’s not sure.

Jason seemed to be better able to repress it. His eyes weren’t black, the teal irises always visible. Tim has so far liked to pretend that everything is alright. Jason hasn’t mentioned needing blood again, they… they even sort of had fun, he guesses? And then Jason had sprung that apology on him, and Tim still doesn’t know why.

But. It’s pretty obvious that there’s _something_ going on with Jason, whether it’s the hunger or something else, and Tim can’t ignore it anymore now.

Everything was peaceful until a few minutes ago. Then Jason visibly flinched and suddenly mentioned being _hungry_ again, and now they’re back to… this. Just because Tim refused.

"This is not up for discussion, Jason," Tim growls, trying his best to sound sure and calm, despite the furious vampire in front of him. "Blood said fifteen days, and it’s barely been eight, we can’t just-"

The vampire lets out a horrible noise, an inhuman growl that has Tim moving back on instinct, until he can feel the wall in his back.

It’s- the creature across from him doesn’t look like Jason anymore. It’s almost that monster that smelled blood again, the only difference is that it’s still using Jason’s voice, angry and snarling and making Tim wonder if he’s going to get out of this alive.

When Jason asked if he could feed now, _tonight_ , and Tim refused, they started shouting, and then Jason just. Snapped.

That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to let the vampire feed from him.

"Stay where you are," Tim orders, and feels that tugging pain in his head again. At least the vampire stops moving towards him. Tim takes a deep breath. "Calm down. Your eyes are all black, I want you to focus. Come back to me, Jason."

He’s not sure what makes him phrase it like this. But, it works.

The black recedes, until there’s at least a very thin teal ring around wide black pupils.

Jason snarls. Grunts. Squinches his eyes shut and shakes himself as if he’s in intense pain. “ _Fucking damnit, Tim_ ,” he growls, voice raw. He still doesn’t look or sound like he’s fully back, but at the same time he looks so… tortured.

"Talk to me, Jason," Tim orders. He notices how his voice is a bit shaky now, but. He can’t deal with this. Not with Jason being that vicious monster and not with Jason curling in on himself as if his insides are being torn out. "What is going on? How… How much longer to you think you can go without blood?"

Jason’s unfocused look snaps back to him, then he’s closing his eyes again. It looks like he’s fighting down his anger, and Tim lightens the death grip he has on his bo. “Not much longer,” Jason rasps out, curling in on himself even more, with a sound almost like whimper. “Feels like I’m fucking _dying_.”

Tim stiffens. He… He doesn’t want to have that monster feed on him, but. Just looking at Jason like this, is. It’s tearing at his heart.

Jason’s still talking, wretching out words in between what looks like cramps. “It’s in… waves. Better and worse. A lot worse since I- _agh_ … since the sun light. Tried. Tried to ignore it, but. C-Cant, right now, it’s-“

"Okay," Tim whispers before he’s even really thought about it. Jason’s attention is back on him immediatly, wide black unfocused eyes.

"W-What…?" Jason asks, and the reasonable part of Tim’s brain is yelling at him that this is stupid, that he really shouldn’t do this, but. He can’t bear to see Jason in pain like this. And it’s only going to get worse, isn’t it?

Tim’s safe house is close to a church, and he regrets that now, because the ringing bells, twelth times for midnight, bring a really eerie atmosphere to his next words.

"Okay, you… I allow you to feed on me now, Jason."


	10. December 10th - The Day Tim Tries Very Hard Not to Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s… All of this is suddenly very awkward, because he’s pushing down the vampire part of him, and his human side has actually no idea how to go about biting someone to drink their blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Violence and blood in this one. I guess. Don't want to upset anyone. Better be sure.
> 
> On another note, my internet has decided not to work, which sucks. And I'm still stuck at chapter 15. It's getting serious, fellows. Now, enjoy the next torturous cliffhanger =)  
> (And to all the people thought that this is the worst possible moment for Bruce to find them. You have no idea. My plans are far more sinister than that. Fufufufufu... >:D)

00:00 am

"Okay, you… I allow you to feed on me now, Jason."

The bells of a church close by are ringing, twelth times, so Jason is not entirely sure if he heard that right.

Then again, his stomach feels like it’s tearing itself apart, and even though Jason is no stranger to pain, he feels unbearably awful.

He’s not completely sure how this whole ‘orders via magical bond’ system works, but he can move forward again. Just four steps, then he’s right in front of Tim who’s already backed up against a wall before.

Jason’s arms move to the wall right and left from Tim, and Jason hates how it happens almost on its own, like his body is making sure his prey can’t escape this time, because-

That’s not what he wants. That’s not what this _is_. At least he hopes so.

But Tim looks way too frightened, even though he’s doing his best not to show it.

"Are you sure?" Jason makes himself ask. His tongue feels heavy in his mouth, doesn’t want to get out the words and would rather go down to the bit of skin showing above Tim’s collar. He leans down a little, to at least be able to look at Tim’s eyes.

The smaller man swallows audibly. Jason can see Tim’s throat move and it’s the most enticing thing he’s ever seen, probably even more so than the blood, because it’s so close, and Tim’s scent is so intoxicating right now, and this time _he’s actually going to have it, just a few more seconds_ -

"Yeah," Tim answers, a slight tremble in his voice, and Jason sort of hates himself for not backing up right now, because just a few hours ago he apologized to Tim for hurting him, and now he’s obviously scaring the shit out of him again. "Just… stay in control. I don’t want that insane killer machine part of you feeding on me. Think you can do that?"

Jason nods on reflex. He’s… It’s not the command, he thinks. It’s not even how much he hates that feral part of him taking over in general, or the knowledge that he’ll probably never be allowed to feed again if he fucks this up. It’s the uneasyness in Tim’s voice and the fear in those huge gray eyes that has him vowing to himself…

Whatever happens now, he’s not going to hurt Tim anymore.

Tim nods in return, biting his lower lip. “Okay… then. Go ahead.” He’s trying to smile, but the tension in his body is obvious, even before Jason puts his hands on Tim’s shoulders.

It’s… All of this is suddenly very awkward, because he’s pushing down the vampire part of him, and his human side has actually no idea how to go about biting someone to drink their blood.

He moves closer, as careful and as slow as he can, to make sure he doesn’t startle Tim, even though most of him is screaming to just hurry up and bite.

The skin where Tim’s throat meets the shoulders is warm and soft, despite the muscle. Jason can’t help but press his nose to it, because the smell is something from another world entirely, it’s making him… _want_.

There’s an almost feral growl, and it’s most probably from him, but he can’t care about anything right now. Instinct takes over. Teeth graze hot flesh, making his skin prickle and his body feel hot and his breath short, before he sinks his canines in.

Part of him feels Tim tense even more under his hold, maybe in fear or pain, but most of Jason can’t care anymore.

He tastes blood.

With another growl he sinks his canines in deeper, sucks, pulls Tim closer, up, because the angle is bad, and-

He’s not sure how long he’s drinking, or how much, it tastes _good_ in a completely different way from food, makes warmth spread through his body, strength twitch in his muscles, and it’s all in all the best thing he’s ever had, that it’s so hard to remember and to make himself _stop_ at some point, but-

He’s jostled out of his weird trance he hasn’t realized he’s been in when Tim’s hand bangs against the wall from where it’s fallen down.

Tim is… His body feels completely slack and Jason pulls back with a sudden shock at what this means, he’s… There’s red hot delicious warm blood still sticking to the wound at Tim’s neck and he can’t care because Tim’s just hanging there unmovingly in his arms, eyes half closed and glassy, and-

For one terrifying moment, Jason thinks he’s _killed_ Tim.

Then dazed gray eyes flutter, blinking tiredly.

“ _Tim_?” Jason asks, voice high strung with urgency and _worry_ for this precious person in his arms, and he wants to shoot himself for not stopping sooner, he _could_ have, he fucking _forgot_ about stopping and went on like the mindless monster-

“‘m fine,” a very quiet voice rasps out, and Jason lifts Tim up a little more, the damn kid is so light, Jason wonders how he could ever agree to bite him, so fucking stupid and reckless of him. “Jus’ tired.”

"Tim," Jason urges again, pulling the limp body closer. "Please, you need to stay awake, we need to get you a transfusion and I can’t get to the blood because of your stupid ass securi-"

"Jason", Tim interrupts him, and Jason wants to tear his own head off for how weak that voice sounds now, all because of him. Tim shifts around in his arms, and it takes Jason a moment to realize he’s trying to be set down, which is _so not_ going to happen any time soon.

"I’m here, Tim, I’m sorry, I should have stopped sooner, I know-"

"Bite sedating," Tim mumbles, and it’s enough to snap Jason out of his frantic rant.

Oh.

Blood said something along those lines. Right. “But are you sure-“

"I know what blood loss feels like, Jason, I’m fine," Tim mutters, and by now he actually manages to sound pissed instead of half dead.

Still, Jason swoops him up princess stile and marches over to Tim’s bed. He lays him down, as gentle as possible, and even pulls up the blanket. Tim gives him a very, very undignified look, but Jason won’t have that now.

"You’re going to sleep," he orders, one hand on his hip to put emphasis on his words. "When you wake up, you’re going to drink. And eat. I’ll make you something with a lot of iron."

Tim looks like he wants to complain, but he stays quiet. A few moments later he’s already fallen asleep.

Jason checks his pulse. It’s steady enough, doesn’t actually feel like Jason took too much blood. He’s… not actually sure how much he drank. He lost his feeling for time completely at the first taste.

But now… He doesn’t feel hungry anymore, which is good, he supposes. And Tim is still alive. He gets the orange blanket and puts it over Tim as well. Only now he notices the blood that’s still on the younger man’s throat.

It’s amazing, really, because in his worry he completely forgot about that. And even now, while it’s definitely smelling incredibly nice and there’s the urge flaring up in Jason to lap it all up, he can control himself.

He can get up, get the first aid kit, clean the wound - they forgot to ask Blood how sterile vampire bites are, that would probably be useful to know - and then wrap it up securely with a bandage.

Mentally he’s already composing a list of what groceries would be best to help Tim replenish blood. And he needs to make sure that Tim won’t patrol any time soon, no matter what he says, he’s missing blood and really shouldn’t push himself too hard.

It’s while he’s looking for the third blanket that he knows Tim keeps somewhere around here, that Jason starts wondering why he’s even so worried at all.

Like. A few nights ago, he managed to threaten Tim with a knife and not feel guilty.

And now he wants to wrap Tim up in thick blankets and make sure he stays healthy and safe for the rest of his life.

Which begs the question, _why the hell_ is he being an overprotective mother hen all of a sudden? Is it because of the bond, an urge to protect his master? Or is it because he drank Tim’s blood, an instinct to make sure his source of blood doesn’t die off?

Or… maybe something else?

Jason doesn’t want to think about that. Doesn’t want to dwell too long on the guilt welling up in him when he sees how pale Tim’s face is, or the warm flutter in his stomach when he tucks the third blanket over Tim as well and the younger man curls up into them almost like a kitten.

He… How could they suddenly come to this, so fast, so sudden?

It’s… scary. Jason can suddenly not even imagine a life that doesn’t include Tim. Bickering over little things. Making sure the other one doesn’t get shot from behind when they’re out on patrol. Gradually discovering that they have the same slightly fucked up sense of humor. Freaking out when they discover that they have the same toothbrush and aren’t sure who used whose. Well, Tim freaked out, apparently sharing a toothbrush is ‘unsanitary’.

Now that he’s thinking about it, Jason is suddenly intimidated by all of it. How could he grow so attached to this kid he used to call replacement, without even noticing it?

He sort of wants to run away. It’s too much right now, all of this. And on the other hand, he knows that he couldn’t possibly do that. He needs to stay right here and make sure Tim doesn’t run himself into the ground.

He catches himself stroking a few strands of that really long, really soft black hair out of Tim’s face when the smaller man makes a mumbling sound in his sleep.

He hurries out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

This is all moving into a very strange direction, and now that he’s realizing it, it’s freaking him out.

 _Jesus_. He… he can’t get. _Attached_ to this kid. They’re working together. Jason has other problems. He was turned into a fucking _vampire_ a few days ago. How the hell did _affection_ sneak in along the way?

~*~

_Tim can feel the cold wall in his back as the vampire comes closer. Glinting fangs and eyes pitch-black. Still the creature’s talking with Jason’s voice, telling him to stay still, it’s not going to hurt, he’d kill Jason if he doesn’t agree to this…_

_He feels his legs get weak and his body grow cold. Keeping his eyes open is hard, he’s so tired, he just wants to sleep and forget… but the vampire won’t stop drinking, it’s too much, and everything fades to black…_

Gasping, Tim jolts up, he doesn’t know where he is, he needs to get away-

There’s a large warm hand on his shoulder, and a soft voice. “Shh, Tim. It’s alright.”

Chest heaving with heavy breaths, drenched in cold sweat, he turns to where the voice comes from. Jason. Jason is sitting next to his bed, and Tim is.

He’s in his sleeping room, in the safe house. Jason’s eyes are fully teal, fangs hidden between frowning lips.

Then everything gets blurry and spins, and Tim has no choice but to lie back down. “How long was I out?” he asks, hating how his voice comes out all raspy. It’s still dark outside, it can’t have been that long…

"About twenty hours," Jason sobers up his wishful thinking. "It’s almost half past eight, in the evening. You’ve been sleeping the whole time. Had me worried there, babybird."

"You haven’t called me that for some time," Tim wonders, only noticing he talked out loud when Jason’s smile turns a little more… sheepish.

"Yeah, I… guess so. I’ve been quite an asshole there for some time, in case you haven’t noticed."

"You don’t say," Tim mutters dryly. He tries to get up again, but is immediately pushed back down, which makes him glare at Jason. "What."

"You need to rest. Do you think I haven’t noticed that you’re feeling dizzy? Don’t even try to tell me you’re fine," Jason mumbles, and. There’s a really weird expression in his face, and an equally weird sound to his voice. Tim is… he thinks Jason is trying to be caring.

It’s almost as odd as that one time he tried to calm Tim down.

"Jason, I’m not going to lie in bed all day."

"Why not? You can WORK FROM here. Check surveillance tapes and-"

"I’ve been doing that like, ninety per cent of my time for the last week. If I don’t get to go out, I’m going to go crazy!"

"But Tim, that’s really unreasonable…"

They argue back and forth for almost an hour, before Jason finally gives in. Tim has to make agreements, too, which basically comes down to accepting that Jason’s going to be his worrying overprotective bodyguard for the night.

He wonders what brought on that change of mind. It’s not like Jason was this protective of him before. Is it the bond? Was it feeding on him? Or maybe both of those combined, in some way? It’s not like he can google the solution. He doubts there’s a wikipedia site for magically bonded vampires feeling overprotective. Or how to make them stop fussing.

They leave the safe house just after 11 pm, both in civilian clothes so they won’t attract more of Batman’s attention than they probably already have. Tim has no illusions about this, it’s a small miracle Bruce hasn’t found them already. At least he feels fine, no more whoozyness interfering with his movements.

~*~

First they check the usual places, the areas where most of the blood-drained victims disappeared and were found. As always, they can’t find anything. The alleys are empty, and the streets are full of people who are probably just plain old humans.

It’s only when Jason abruptly stops walking, causing Tim to almost run into him, that he realizes something is different this time.

They’re close to the city limits, but still in one of the livelier districts, people and noise all around them, the streets brightly illuminated by lights and ads.

"What is it?" he asks Jason quietly, who has started focusing on some point across the streets. Then he pulls his head back, grabs Tim and starts dragging him further down the street.

"Since I got to drink your blood, smelling people is easier," Jason explains in a hushed voice, gaze flickering from one store window to the next, so he’s… he’s looking at someone behind them in the reflections, Tim realizes. "It doesn’t feel like I need to bite them, so I tried to focus more on the scent. But then I noticed that those two guys behind us… they don’t smell really different, but still not like food at all."

"You think that they’re vampires," Tim whispers in realization, training his eyes on the two figures that are trying to sneak after them as well. "Assuming that you can’t feed on other vampires, that would mean they don’t smell as… available."

Jason nods. “Yeah. But I think they caught on to the fact that I noticed them. So they probably know I’m a vampire, too.”

They’re maneuvering their way through the night life of Gotham, away from the main crowd. Tim’s not exactly sure where Jason is trying to lead them, but suddenly the taller man hisses, cursing silently, before he pulls both of them into the dark shadow of a dumpster in an alley.

That’s not really something Tim thinks is necessary to get rid off their two less than professional followers, so he wants to complain, but Jason holds a hand over his mouth. Then he hears it, too.

The fluttering noise of a cape in the wind, that Jason’s enhanced senses have probably picked up on a little earlier.

The Batman’s shadow slips over their alley, than over the next street. Holding his breath, Tim keeps his eyes on the dark figure until he can’t see it anymore in the night, then waits some more because Jason’s gaze is still following it.

It would probably get really cold and uncomfortable next to the dumpster, if it wasn’t for the weird position Jason had pulled him into, big arms curled around him and pulling him against Jason’s larger frame.

"I think he didn’t see us," Jason breathes after a few more agonzingly long moments. Then he slumps down, causing Tim to fall with him. A relieved sigh. "Whew. That was close."

Tim gets up from the cold ground, brushing the dirt off his jeans. “Yeah, that’s great. But I think we also managed to lose our two vampires…”

"Doesn’t matter, now that I’m figuring out this scent thing, I think I can manage to find new ones…" Jason falls silent.

Wondering why Tim looks back at him, then notices how the man’s gaze is fixed at the edge of the roof top above them. With a feeling of dread settling into his stomach, Tim looks up as well.

There can’t be anyone there, Batman’s missed them and he sent pretty much everyone else out of town, who could possibly-

Nightwing.

There’s no doubt. That’s definitely him up there, tight black costume with blue stripes across the chest and arms.

Fucking _shit_.

"Tim," he hears Jason’s dark voice next to his ear, a warm hand settling on his shoulder. "Be reasonable now, okay? You’re not in top form. I’ve seen you shiver for the past ten minutes. Let me lead him off, then meet me back at the safe house, okay?"

Tim wants to protest, wants to tell Jason that he really is fine, but. He’s not dumb. He knows the edge of his vision is still fuzzy and that he can’t take it up with Nightwing like this, not at all. And… he’s not sure if he’s ready to explain to Batman how the Red Hood being a vampire doesn’t make him a threat. Not yet.

So he finds himself nodding, and then marveling at how fast and agile Jason is while working his way up to the roof.

With a shuddering breath, he turns around and starts running.

~*~

He’s only gotten as far as three streets - and isn’t that pathetic, really - when he’s so out of breath, knees wobbly and black spots dancing in his vision, that he needs to stop and lean against a wall for a few seconds.

Just this one little break, then he’ll get going again-

They’re here. He can see them.

The two vampires that followed them are at one end of the alley he’s in. That’s not a problem, if worst comes to worst he can just run away to the other end, and- Oh.

It’s not just those two. He’s surrounded by at least eight of them, they’re coming closer and cutting off his way out, white canines glinting in the sparse light that’s trickling in from the street.

"What do you want?" Tim asks, focusing on making his voice sound composed and not like he’s already feeling close to blacking out. He’s whipping out his combustible bo staff, really glad he thought of bringing it along now.

One of the vampires steps forward, matted brown hair and a scar across his left temple. He moves with a confidence that suggests he’s the leader of the group. “You’re with that rogue new one, aren’t you?” he asks.

Is he talking about Jason? It sounds like he is, but he doesn’t look too friendly. Tim swallows. “Maybe. What is your deal with him?”

The man grins, wide and feral, all of his teeth showing, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s an intimidation gesture. “Well, since the new one’s working with C… Means we’re not on the same side, kid.”

Keep them talking, Tim thinks, gripping the bo tighter. “Who says we’re working with her?” It’s admitting that he’s with Jason, and that they know about C, but hopefully it will make the vampire give up more information.

"Don’t play GAMES with me, kid. She can’t hide out in the lion’s den forever, and we know she turned your friend," and Tim would love to find out how they know that, but then he’s distracted by the shadows moving above him, and it’s…

It’s a mistake. A big mistake, and now probably his last one.

There are vampires above him, dropping down, three more, all charging at him at once.

Was he really stupid enough to get distracted by a bit of talking? God, how unattentive and dumb of him.

Dodging the first few strikes is easy, Tim even thinks he gets one or two hits in, but then his vision blurs, and before he knows it he’s lost his grip on his bo and is down on the ground.

Dozens of hands grip him, hold him with inhuman strength, and even the best escape tricks Dick taught him don’t get him free.

He’s… he’s trapped, Tim realizes, body growing cold. He can’t fight his way out of this.

The leading vampire chuckles, stepping closer. He places a hand on Tim’s throat, just over the bite wound Jason left, and rips off the bandage. The slitted pupils in light brown eyes widen, drenching them inky black.

"Ah, knew it. You _are_ with him,” his voice is smooth and it makes Tim feel a little sick, especially with how his teeth come out, moving closer to his face. “Now, kid, this is nothing personal. But whatever C is up to, the big boss doesn’t want it to happen, so unfortunately… we’ll have to get rid of you.”

Tim wants to protest, after all they haven’t even managed to find C so far, but then…

Cold long teeth sink into his neck.

It’s painful and frightening, because this bite is so very different from Jason’s, the vampire is tearing his skin, and Tim’s losing blood so much faster…

He’s close to fainting by the time the man pulls back, blood - his own blood, _god_ \- smeared over grinning lips. The vampire starts talking again, boasting, but Tim’s mind is too sluggish to even comprehend what he’s saying, and…

Then the man snaps his fingers, and it has to be some sort of signal, because the grips on him change, and suddenly there’s another set of canines sinking into his skin, then a second, a third, they’re all…

They’re feeding on him, all of them, and now Tim knows how the bodies they found were so very drained of blood, and he realizes.

He can barely stay awake, and they’re not going to stop.

He’s not going to get out of this alive.


	11. December 11th - The Day Jason Almost Eats a Hand Because Reasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes he really wonders what’s going on in that man’s head. ‘Oh, my son has mysteriously disappeared, maybe kidnapped or killed by my other slightly insane son who could be a crazy fairy tale monster. Better not tell anyone about this, so they’re uninformed and can’t help me.’
> 
> Yeah. Good old Bruce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't end with a cliffhanger today! Well, not with a mean one, anyway.  
> Thanks again for all the comments. Can't thank you often enough =D  
> Now, enjoy. (And hope I'll finally get on with writing, bc I'm running out of prewritten chapters... 

00:00 am

Batman and Nightwing are chasing Jason Todd over Gotham’s roofs.

Yeah, now _that’s_ a sentence. This is was creating atmosphere looks like. Any paparazzo would die for a picture of this.

Except for, well. How easily Jason seems to be able to shake them off. Dick has had his fair share of roof top chases, a lot of them with Jason, too, but this is… new.

The young man in front of them is faster than he should be, more agile and stronger, too. And Dick isn’t just talking about Jason’s personal skills. It’s way above what any human being should be capable of.

He’s afraid he needs to consider Bruce’s vampire theory an actual option now. God, this all going to end in a catastrophe, he can already feel it.

The good thing? At least Tim seems to be alive and well. Dick could have ripped Bruce’s head straight off when the man told him two days ago that Tim had been missing for a full _week_ already.

Sometimes he really wonders what’s going on in that man’s head. ‘Oh, my son has mysteriously disappeared, maybe kidnapped or killed by my other slightly insane son who could be a crazy fairy tale monster. Better not tell anyone about this, so they’re uninformed and can’t help me.’

Yeah. Good old Bruce.

Now that Dick’s finally been ‘granted acces’ to the information he should have had all along, he’s been worried, too. Mainly about Tim, but also about Jason.

He’s pretty sure Bruce already has about thirtyfive paranoid theories what could have happened. Has Jason taken Tim? Has Tim taken Jason?

Vampire-controlling mastermind of evil, Tim Drake. Such a likely threat, definitely something they have to consider, yeah? _Right_.

Back to topic. A camera picked up Jason and Tim across town. Batman went to investigate, Nightwing followed a little later, which was a good thing, because only due to that he managed to spot the two of them. Next to a dumpster, of all things.

Notion one. Both Tim and Jason seemed to be alive and well. No major injuries, no missing limbs, everything was fine.

Notion two. Neither Tim nor Jason seemed particularly keen on hitting the other one, which is like. Major improvement from their previous relationship, and no matter what mystical force brought that on, Dick really feels the need to express his gratitude to it.

Notion three. Jason holding Tim back, apparently sending him away and then coming after Nightwing, which suggests. Something. Dick’s not completely sure about this point yet. His personal assumption is protectiveness, but judging from Bruce’s very informative grunt, he seems to think Jason’s threatening Tim somehow.

Notion four. Bandage around Tim’s throat, Jason showing longer canines, strange eyes and also superhuman abilites. Which sort of suggests that Bruce’s vampire theory doesn’t just stem from a lack of sleep.

And now?

Now Nightwing and Batman are making fools of themselves, trying to get a hold of Jason who is cleverly evading them. Tim’s disappeared altogether.

"Jason, wait!" Nightwing shouts. He’s well aware that all of his and Bruce’s previous attempts at a conversation yelled across the roofs have been ignored, but he really wants to know what happened. To both of his little brothers.

Jason makes a jump over a wide street - and hell, Dick’s ready to catch him before he becomes street pizza, because there is no way anyone can jump that far - but of course he makes it.

They’re losing him. It’s obvious with the growing distance between them, and neither Dick’s acrobatics not Bruce’s increasingly constipated expression can change that.

Way, way too far away from them Jason jumps down between two roofs, and by the time they’re there, he’s nowhere to be found.

Batman curses under his breath.

Ah, such a great night with such a deligthful companion to look forward to, now… Not that it’s a loss. Jason and Tim are fine. Neither one’s in trouble. For now, that’s good enough for Dick.

~*~

00:31 am

Tim is not at the safe house.

It’s really unsettling, because shaking off Batman and Nightwing at the same time wasn’t easy. It took quite long, and in that time, Tim should have definitely been able to make it here.

But he hasn’t.

Jason curses, doubles back, a million panicked thoughts racing through his mind.

Ice cold dread is spreading through his insides. It’s like he _knows_ , something bad has happened to Tim.

What if Tim’s missing more blood than he thought? What if he overexerted himself, fainted, is lying half dead in a gutter now? What if he ran into someone? Batman or Nightwing or Robin or Batgirl or Black Bat or- God, what if he ran into a _villain_?

Searching the streets, the route Tim would have taken from where they split up to the safe house, doesn’t take long.

Which is probably the only reason why Jason’s still in time to see… _them_.

It’s. It’s horrible and makes Jason want to throw up for a moment when he sees the group of people holding the bloodied pale body, and he’s already pulled out his guns to put an end to them even before the body in their grip is turned enough that he can see the face-

 _Tim_.

Jason stops dead in the spot where he’s landed in the alley. Hissing and growling vampires are moving and getting ready to fight, to attack him, but he can’t, he _can’t_ -

That’s _Tim_ right there, jacket and shirt ripped off, with bite marks all over his throat and torso, eyes closed and face twisted in pain, body white and limp and…

God, he looks like he’s dead.

These vampires hurt Tim, drained him, _killed_ him-

He’s-

Jason’s going to _end_ them.

It’s like he’s in trance, body moving on autopilot because Jason’s mind is still shattered around that image seared into his brain of white dead skin with fresh red wounds and-

He’s shooting-punching-kicking-biting-tearing until he registers there’s no vampire left, all broken dead mangled bodies strewn over the ground with insides splattered over the stones, and it all doesn’t matter.

Numb, Jason kneels down in front of Tim’s body, cradling the pale thin form up in his arms and-

There’s a heartbeat.

Weak and unsteady and stuttering every few beats, but it’s _there_.

Jason thinks he’s never been this relieved in his _life_.

He takes off his own jacket and wraps it around Tim’s naked chest, then lifts him up and pulls him close. Jason’s- he needs to think now, fast.

Tim needs medical care, Tim needs _blood_.

Jason can’t- he can’t get Tim’s transfusion bags, they’re still locked up, god, how could they be stupid enough to not take them out days ago, and-

Batman.

Of course. Batman can help Tim. No way Jason’s going to ask a general hospital.

He has to- He needs to get Tim to Batman.

~*~

00:47 am

They lost Jason.

Bruce can’t believe it. After days of searching, Nightwing found them by coincidence, after Bruce missed them, right there under him, and now they _lost_ Jason.

He and Nightwing are back in the cave, checking surveillance tapes with Alfred’s assistance, in hopes of picking Jason and Tim up again. Or how they got to that dumpster. Or where they went. They have to be _somewhere_.

Nightwing said Jason grabbed Tim’s shoulder, sending him away before engaging and then luring them into the other direction. That could mean any number of things.

For one, it interferes with the mugger’s statement that Tim was the one giving the orders. Though that might just have been… imagination. It’s, in all of this, the one piece that won’t fit no matter what he tries.

He’s interrupted in his thoughts when the silent alarm of the cave activates.

Someone’s entered, without authorization. Then the rumbling of a motorcycle comes closer.

Both he and Nigthwing are already on their feet by the time the vehicle pulls up next to the batmobile, screeching to a stop because the driver has been going at a speed that’s way beyond reasonable, and-

The driver is Jason.

Bruce isn’t even sure how to react to that. Not after Jason just shook them off half an hour ago, and now he’s right here in the cave, with.

Tim.

Tim limp and pale and bloody in Jason’s arms, looking… _lifeless_.

Batman’s not even sure whether to attack the intruder or not, he wants to, but he can’t, not with Tim in those arms.

"You need to help him. He’s- He’s lost too much blood, I can’t-," Jason… Jason _pleads_. There’s fear and worry in wide teal eyes with slitted pupils, and… There’s blood all over Tim’s body. The jacket wrapped around slim shoulders slips and then Bruce gets where all the blood’s coming from, because there are countless bite marks over his son’s throat and neck and chest and-

They’ve moved to the med bay, without a word, because it’s clear what’s priority here, and once- Once Tim’s not about to die anymore, Bruce will deal with the rest.

~*~

04:30 pm

"Let me out of here, you fucking asshole!"

For the record, yes. Jason is well aware that cursing Bruce with colorful language is not increasing the chance of being listened to. On the other hand, he’s been having this one-sided shouting match with the camera across from him for god knows how many hours now, and he’s more than a little frustrated.

He’s locked up. In the batcave. Hell, Jason didn’t even know they _have_ places for locking people up in the batcave.

"I swear to god, Bruce, when I get out of here-!" Yes, that’s probably not increasing his chances, either. But who cares?

They… they stabilized Tim. He thinks. They had transfusions for him, of course they did, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t have managed to save him-

He stops his train of thought there, because he doesn’t want to think about the other possibilities. Doesn’t even want to consider them, really.

And hell, if they now have an option to hold people in the cave, they could have at least built cells. How is Jason supposed to bang against his bars if he doesn’t have any?

His hands are in shackles, reinforced steel. They’re fixed left and right, so far apart that his arms are spread out as wide as possible, and even with his new strength, he can’t pull them closer together. Same goes for his ankles, fixed to the ground without any chance of moving his feet. Jason thinks it’s magnetism, that would explain how it’s so strong.

It’s a smart system , he has to admit, the cuffs are specially made and short of cutting off an arm, he’s not going to get out of here. Scream and curse, yes. Escape, no.

And they didn’t even tell him how Tim is doing.

At one point while standing next to the gurney Tim was lying on, all still and pale and cold, Bruce- Bruce told him to “Hold this”, and Jason actually did hold this, not even checking what ‘this’ was, because he was so out of it.

Only ‘this’ was a nasty little device sending enough volt through him to take him out. And when he woke up - well, _this_.

Bruce is a god damn fucking traitor and Jason regrets bringing Tim here, except he doesn’t, because it saved Tim’s life. At least he hopes so. Somebody would come to this fucking little side-arm of the cave and tell him if Tim died, right?

He hisses at the camera in front of him again.

In the beginning he made sure to look… civil. Composed. Calm. _Human_. Not like he’s the threat he’s apparently considered to be if they lock him up here. At least it’s not Arkham.

Now? Jason’s pretty sure he spent at least twelve hours in here, calculating the time he was unconscious and fell asleep, and by now he doesn’t really care anymore. He’s flashing his teeth while shouting. He’s hissing and screeching and growling. His eyes are probably pitch black, because the sad little light bulb in the corner is almost blinding him.

Fine. So he’s looking like a monster. Who cares?

As long as it gets Bruce or Alfred or Dick to move their ass over here and tell him how Tim is doing.

Somewhere far, far away he can hear footsteps. That’s… It means someone’s coming, right?

Jason forces himself to calm down. If someone actually deigns himself to talk to that lowly little vampire they locked up, he might as well not look like he’s going to kill them. Depending on the news and who it is.

The steps are… heavy. Purposeful. It’s… Bruce?

Yeah, it is, Jason’s assumption is confirmed when the man comes closer. Still in the batsuit, but at least he took off the cowl.

Jason takes a deep breath. He needs to handle this diplomatically, swallow down that they locked him up for over twelve hours and ignored him. “How is he?” he growls, mostly worried and only a little pissed off.

A blank stare. Then. “What did you do to him, Jason?”

Alright, alright, _fuck_ diplomacy. “ _The hell_ is that supposed to mean, Bruce?” he snarls, throwing himself forward the sad two little centimeters he can move, lips instinctively curling up to show his teeth.

"You’re a vampire," Bruce states, and _fuck him_ , that doesn’t even fit in the _context_ here, is he trying to piss Jason off, because it sure as hell looks like it.

"What does it fucking look like to you?!" Jason hisses, and this time he’s angry enough to show his fangs on purpose.

Bruce’s expression hardens, back to that stone-faced, thin-lipped, disappointed, _judging_ asshole facade Jason has learnt to despise. “You brought Tim here. Littered with bite marks, severe blood loss, half dead. How about you tell me what happened?”

"Fuck you, Bruce!" Jason hisses out. "You think _I’m_ the one hurt him?! I’d never, you fucking-“

"You’re lying," Bruce interrupts him, and for a second Jason thinks cutting of an arm or two just to punch that man in the face would be worth it. "One of the marks matches the imprint we got from your jaw."

Jason puts the discussion about when and how they managed to get an imprint of his new teeth off for antoher day, in favor of throwing himself against the shackles again. “I _bit_ him, that doesn’t mean I’d let him get hurt like _this_!”

He gets a dry look in return, and that stupid ‘I don’t believe you’ frown Bruce has cultivated over the years. “Where does the tattoo on Tim’s chest come from?”

Oh, they’re changing topics again. _Fucking great_. Well, Bruce still hasn’t told him how Tim is, so guess how cooperative Jason’s going to be. “That’s none of your fucking business!”

"You have a similar one around your throat," Bruce goes on talking, reaching out to touch the signs, and… Something hot flares up in Jason, because that mark is _Tim’s_ , and Bruce has no fucking right to touch it-

His teeth snap millimeters away from Bruce’s fingers, if Bruce wasn’t the fucking Batman, his hand would be off now, and he’d deserve it.

"Apparently restraining you was a wise choice," Bruce remarks dryly, and yeah, Jason is probably not going to be let out of here now, but his only regret is that he didn’t manage to bite off one or two fingers.

He snarls in anger again. Bruce… Bruce turns and walks away- No, no, no, that’s bad, he still hasn’t told Jason what happened to Tim, he can’t just-

Except he does.

"Come back here, you asshole!" Jason’s shouting, half into the direction of the cave and half into the camera. "Tell me what the fuck happened to Tim!"

~*~

11:42 pm

Jason is… not sure how long he’s been here anymore.

A few more hours, probably, but he’s losing his sense of time.

He’s stopped shouting. His throat feels raw and hurts every time he swallows. For a while there he thought he could taste blood.

Tim is… they really would tell him if Tim wasn’t doing okay, right?

His brain hurts. Headache like a thousand needles. He really needs to drink something, eat as well, but it just figures that everyone would assume the vampire needs nothing more than blood.

Nah, let’s just lock him up in the basement and see how he’s doing in a week or two.

Yeah, well, he just hopes they’ll be disappointed to find that he died of thirst just like an ordinary human. It would serve them right! But Jason also feels the need to survive.

"Hey, whoever’s stuck watching over me right now. If you don’t want a dead dehydrated vampire tomorrow, someone should get their ass down here and bring me some water and food."

Talking hurts, burns in his throat and now he’s definitely tasting blood. It’s his own, and the taste makes him feel sick. His voice sounds wrecked and rough.

There’s no reaction for about… maybe fifteen minutes? Jason can only guess, because apparently putting a clock down here is too much to ask.

Then there are footsteps coming closer, and Jason lets out a tiny breath of relief, because they’re definitely not Bruce’s.

It’s Dick. Dick with a huge bottle of water and sandwiches. They look like they’ve been made by Alfred, though, and just looking at them makes Jason’s stomach grumble loudly.

"Hi," Dick greets him with a smile, looking a little unsure. "I take it that you’re actually interested in these sandwiches and not just looking to use them in your escape plan? Because either way, I have instructions from Alfred to force them down your throat, if need be."

Jason chuckles dryly. “Nope. No mystic vampirism could ever make me not want Alfred’s sandwiches.”

Dick studies him closely. There’s distrust in his eyes, and yeah, Jason guesses he doesn’t look too harmless right now. Plus all the screaming about killing them all for locking him up, that might have diminished Dick’s trust a little.

After putting down the tray with the sandwiches, Dick opens the bottle. “Okay. I’ve been ordered to help you eat, because you can’t move your arms, and Bruce said you tried to bite off his hand. So as a fair warning, if you try to eat any body parts of mine, you will not receive any more food or water.”

Jason nods. Hey, it’s not like he’s going to try. Unless Dick goes for his collar marks, that is. Dick puts the bottle to his mouth and Jason gulps down the water greedily.

By the time Dick moves it back, he’s out of breath, but also feeling so much better. Now. “How’s Tim?”

Dick’s eyes widen in… it might be surprise? “He’s fine. Still unconscious but he’ll make it. You know, how about this? I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine. Depending on what you tell me, I might even help you get out of here.”


	12. December 12th - The Day the Batcave Becomes a Prison, Statistically Speaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s in pain, and his mind feels like fog.
> 
> Heavy, unforgiving fog that makes it hard to think. His chest and throat burn like they’re on fire.
> 
> Wearily, Tim cracks open an eye, just a little. It’s much, much too bright around him, so he scrunches it closed again immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's call this another calm before the storm. And I finally finished chapter 15. And it's finally weekend. Hah, wonderful...

00:00 am

"You know, how about this? I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine. Depending on what you tell me, I might even help you get out of here."

Jason glares at him. “Don’t fuck with me, Dick. That’s like, the cheapest trick ever to make someone give up information.”

Dick chuckles. “Worth a try, though, wasn’t it? And besides, I really doubt you’ll get out of here without talking to either me or Bruce. Except if Tim explains everything, but he’s still out of comission.”

Dick has seen Jason’s body slump with relief at the information that Tim’s going to be fine. And that’s quite nice, because it helps him to reconcile this new Jason in front of him with the brother he’s had once. A lot better than the snarling, black-eyed creature that cursed all of them for the past few hours.

He watched the camera feed of Bruce’s talk with Jason, and that was less then encouraging. Jason was a… a monster, for a lack of a better word. Hissing and growling, bared teeth, eyes two empty black abysses. And then the whole ‘trying to bite off Bruce’s hand’ business. Makes Dick wonder what he did to annoy Bruce so much that he got ‘feed the aggressive vampire’ duty.

But now Jason’s looking more composed. The worry and aggressiveness etched into his features are bleeding out. He looks more like before. Like an actual nice person you can have a conversation with, even.

"Bruce is just worried and his usual overly paranoid self. You and Tim both disappeared, and with the whole vampire business and your past fights with Tim, you being the bad guy is the best he can make of the situation."

"Yeah, right, aren’t I always?" Jason mutters, still looking pissed, but there also seems to be a bit of regret in his voice. Dick wonders what that means.

Tim and Jason have obviously been together for the past few days they were missing, and apparently that changed a lot in their relationship. Dick is sure he’s heard Jason yell questions how Tim is, at least as often as threats to Bruce for locking him up.

And to be honest, locking Jason up with a mechanism that’s supposed to hold Bane is a bit overkill, even for Bruce.

"Bruce doesn’t trust you right now," Dick tries to explain, because hey, if anything’s going to work out here, then only because these two stubborn idiots finally start talking, so he needs to lay the groundwork here. "All we know right now is that you turned vampire, took Tim, and then bring him here half dead. You say you didn’t bite him, yet we find out that one of the bite marks is from you. And you refuse to tell us what happened."

Jason grunts. They’re both silent, so Dick starts feeding Jason the sandwiches. He can hear the vampire’s stomach grumbling, and it’s… odd. And frankly said, a little disappointing. What’s even the point of being a vampire if you still need normal food?

After Jason has eaten, he looks at least a bit more cooperative, which makes Dick decide to try again.

"You know, the problem with you and Bruce is that he takes every possibility into consideration and starts with the worst. You think he’s suspecting you of something horrible and start accusing him, and then you are both pissed and angry and stubborn and immature, and think it’s all the other one’s fault."

"I don’t need your advice," Jason growls. His body looks a bit more relaxed, and if Dick looks closer, Jason’s eyes have changed, too. They’re normal again, only the iris is still black. It makes Jason look more like a normal person.

More silence, then. “I never said I didn’t bite Tim. I did, I need a little blood and Tim… volunteered. And then, after we split up, he got attacked by those other vampires. They did this to him.”

Dick nods in calm understanding. “And you brought him here, so we would help him.”

"Yeah. You were his best chance. I-", Jason stops talking and bites his lower lip, looking like he’s fighting an intense inner battle. "I’m worried for him."

"He’s gonna be alright," Dick reassures him with a warm smile. "And since you’re not the evil monster that attacked and hurt him, I’m sure Bruce is gonna let you out of here soon."

"As if," Jason mutters, scrunching up his nose.

Dick can’t help but chuckle. “I’m serious! Okay, answer me one more question that I know has been bugging Bruce, and then I’ll try to work my magic of positive feelings on him, yeah?”

"Hm?"

"Those marks on your throat and Tim’s chest, they’re similar. And Bruce has tried every scan he has, but they’re definitely not tattoos. What are they, and where did you get them?"

Jason gives him a calculating glare and the silent treatment again. Dick can see how his mind is working on phrasing this exactly the right way, which probably means there’s a lot he’s not supposed to know. “It’s a bond. Some powerful magic, I don’t know exactly, it gives Tim the power to stop me when I lose control. Blood cast the spell for it.”

Dick nods, although he doesn’t understand what Jason’s trying to say. Blood hasn’t been available since all of this started. Is Jason lying to him? But why would he be?

He grabs the now empty tray and bottle, waves at Jason again. “I’ll talk to Bruce. In case you need something again, just tell the camera. Which can also be done calmly and without cursing, might I add. See you.”

~*~

00:34 am

Dick hasn’t even been gone for ten minutes, when Batman comes to him again. This time with the cowl pulled over his face, and that alone is enough to make it clear what this talk’s going to be like. Jason growls at him as he approaches.

"You’re lying," is the first thing Batman says, and yeah, Jason was right. It’s going to be _that_ kind of talk again. The kind where they’ll end up hurting and hateful.

"I haven’t," he spits, narrowing his eyes.

"You’re dangerous," is the next accusation thrown at him, and the hiss is out of Jason’s throat before he’s even thought about it. Jason knows this tactic. Bruce is provocating him, knowing that it usually ends with him getting so angry that he gives up all the things Bruce wants to know.

Except this time, he’s actually been honest all along. Only Bruce doesn’t believe him.

"The police found bodies. Could be the vampires you said attacked Tim."

"So?"

Batman steps closer, and if Jason wasn’t chained up, he’d be able to hit him. God, he really wants to do that. Batman’s voice is low and steady. Accusing. “They found twelve corpses, Jason. Three shot, four with their throats literally ripped out by _teeth_ , and the others so badly torn that it’s hard to tell _what_ they died of.”

"They did this to Tim," Jason growls, clenching his fists even though that doesn’t help him at all. He doesn’t understand how Bruce- Batman can look at him so calm and disappointed. Those vampires almost _killed_ Tim. As far as Jason is concerned, they deserved worse.

"So you _did_ kill them,” Batman states, lips thinning out. “There are also multiple eye witnesses reporting that you were attacking everyone close to you, innocents, _children_ , to bite and kill them. One man died.”

"What are you trying to get at here?" It’s making Jason even angrier to hear it put like this. He… To be honest, he wasn’t fully aware of what he’d done. Or was, and just didn’t want to be. Hearing it all like this just makes him want to shut Bruce up, forcibly.

"You’re out of control, Jason," Batman states calmly, and that’s a ‘You’ll stay in those chains forever’ if there ever was one. "Releasing you would be irresponsible. There’s no telling what you would do."

"Tim takes care of that," Jason hisses. "I’m sure Dick reported it all back to you. These tats, they’re for _Tim. He’s_ my control!”

"Tim is still unconscious due to severe physical and mental trauma that he endured because of a situation you put him in."

Jason half suspects his body to act on its own again, attack Bruce because of how furious it makes him to hear that, but… The truth is, it hurts. He _knows_ Tim being involved in this is his fault. He never meant for something like this to happen, and he hates himself for not stopping it. Swallowing down his regret, he slumps in his shackles. “I know that.”

Batman actually looks a bit taken aback at his reaction, and that’s at least one good thing. Though it also shows that he pegged Jason as a rage-driven monster.

"You also lied," the previous statement is repeated, and Jason almost wants to roll his eyes.

"Is this about the biting again? Because it happened way earlier than the attack, and Tim _agreed_ to it on his own free will.”

An almost unnoticable narrowing of masked eyes. “You said Jason Blood gave you and Tim these marks.”

"Yeah? So what?"

"Contacting Blood hasn’t been possible since all of this started. Whoever you say or think did this, it wasn’t him."

Jason blinks, taken aback. He wants to say that yes, it was very much him, he still remembers the man scribbling on his throat with sharpie, but… What if it wasn’t? They’re living in a world of vampires all of a sudden. God only knows who or what might have pretended to be Blood.

Or maybe the man just doesn’t feel like dealing with Bruce’s sour ass. That sounds way more probable.

"I don’t care what you think. I just want out of here and see Tim," Jason mutters.

Batman looks at him, gaze unreadable under white lenses. Then. “Tell me what happened.”

Jason wants to growl again. That was a ‘no’ to letting him out, wasn’t it? Still, it might gain him some points, so he starts talking. “I was bitten and turned by a woman named C, last Monday. I noticed that staying in control was hard at times, so I teamed up with Tim to let him keep an eye on me. We contacted Blood, who performed this weird bond magic on us. I bit Tim _once_ did not hurt him badly. Then we ran into Nightwing, split up, and when I found Tim again, a group of vampires had hurt him like this. I brought him here, then was guilefully tricked and locked up by a man dressing up as a _giant mammal_ , because apparently _I’m_ not safe to be around.”

He gives Bruce a glare, and gets a noninformative cold Batman stare in return.

Then Batman turns around and walks away without another word. Jason sort of wants to shout after him, because he really wants to get rid off these shackles, but the conversation actually went a lot better than he anticipated. Bruce’s long-winded theory about how he is the bad guy in all of this never came.

Maybe they can actually work this out peacefully.

~*~

10:23 pm

He’s in pain, and his mind feels like fog.

Heavy, unforgiving fog that makes it hard to think. His chest and throat burn like they’re on fire.

Wearily, Tim cracks open an eye, just a little. It’s much, much too bright around him, so he scrunches it closed again immediately.

Someone apparently noticed him, though, because there’s a big, warm hand settling on his shoulder, touching him softly, steadying, calming.

"Jason…?" Tim rasps out. His throat feels like something died in there, but scratched everything open first. He…

He remembers Jason’s careful touch from the last time he woke up… Or was he just about to doze off? He… he knows that Jason was there, making sure everything was alright. So Jason being here means that he’s safe, even though whatever it is he’s lying on doesn’t feel like his bed at the safe house at all.

"Sorry, Timmy, its just me," a warm tentative voice says somewhere close by, and it’s… It doesn’t sound like Jason’s, and that’s _wrong_ , because Jason’s always around when he wakes up, not…

Dick. It’s Dick’s voice, and as Tim opens his eyes again and sits up, he’s in the batcave with Dick sitting next to the gurney he’s on, but that’s not where he was before, he was-

_Teeth and hands and wet sticky blood all over him and he can’t get away he’ll die here all alone he’ll die die diediedie—_

"Tim!" Dick’s voice says again, the grip of the hand on his shoulder a lot firmer now, and reality’s skipped a beat, like a video with a bad connection. It’s not right, he shouldn’t be here and he can hear Jason’s voice in his ear, calling Tim’s name with a _desperation_ that’s making him cringe-

He sucks a sharp breath into his lungs, shakes off the hand on his shoulder. “Where’s Jason?” he asks, voice all rough and hitched and it sounds like he’s panicking, but Tim’s not sure, because he thinks he doesn’t feel anything at all over the burning pain of the bite wounds.

Dick looks surprised and worried, opening his mouth to answer, but he’s interrupted by another voice.

"Jason left."

Tim looks up. Batman’s walking over to the med bay, cowl down and he’s looking all grim and angry, but Tim doesn’t know why. He just wants- Jason should be here.

"Jason wouldn’t-", he starts, but Bruce pulls down the cowl, looking more worn out and tired than annoyed.

"Tim, Jason, he… he brought you here, half dead, and then he left. He said he has to do this on his own and will come back once he’s done."

Tim checks Bruce’s face for all signs of lying. He can’t find any, but Bruce has always been the best at hiding it, and what he says has to be wrong, because Jason wouldn’t just _leave him here_.

Would he?

He… Tim swallows. Jason has been so very overprotective ever since he bit him. Didn’t even want him to go out. But Tim insisted, and look where that’s gotten him. It’s… Jason leaving him behind until he’s settled things on his own makes sense.

Tim doesn’t _want_ it to make sense.

He feels… he feels cold and _wrong_ and like he’s about to cry for some reason. Jason wouldn’t, shouldn’t, he didn’t think Jason would-

God, but he _did_.

After all, Tim has proven he can’t hold his own. Not even against a few little vampires. And with all the blood he’s lost he’s just a dead weight in this, Jason’s actually better off on his-

 _Blood_.

Jason needs to drink blood.

Tim has… He’s forbidden Jason from drinking.

Jason can only feed from Tim, and only if Tim allows it.

"When did he say he would be back?" he asks, voice cracking a little.

"A few weeks. Maybe a month or two," Bruce answers, and his face doesn’t give away that he’s lying, but-

Jason’s not stupid enough to forget that he needs Tim’s blood. Jason literally can’t live without Tim for more than fifteen days, hell, he barely made it eight…

Jason didn’t leave him.

"You’re lying," Tim hisses, red hot anger flaring up inside of him, because how can Bruce lie to him like this, and- God, Jason. "Where is he? What have you done to him?!"

He’s so furious that he tries to get up, but he’s- His foot is shackled to something very unmoving, and those shackles are the kind even he’s going to have trouble cracking. Nightwing’s silently slinking away, but Tim doesn’t care about that right now.

Bruce raises his hands. “Calm down, Tim, you’re still in shock. Jason left-“

"Don’t _lie_ to me!” Tim yells despite the pain in his throat. “He _wouldn’t_ leave me, he _can’t_! What did you _do_ to him?!”

The placating hands are lowered and Bruce’s expression hardens. His entire posture changes and suddenly Tim feels like he’s talking to a completely different man.

"At first I suspected Jason of taking you," Bruce says, voice low and toxic like he’s figured out Tim’s evil masterplan, except Tim doesn’t _have one_. “But that’s not it, is it? You’ve done something to Jason. _You’re_ the one controlling _him_.”

The accusation is so odd that Tim can’t even be angry for a moment. But then the rage comes back twice as strong. “What?! I’m the bad guy now, just because a stupid spell makes me Jason’s master?”

"His _master_ ,” Bruce repeats the word with disgust, voice cutting, and suddenly Tim realizes that he’s given away some things he really shouldn’t have.

He… He needs to calm down and settle this, before things escalate. “Bruce. Where _is_ he?”

"Safe from you," is Bruce’s only answer, before the man walks away.

Tim wants to- He wants to shout and yell and demand that they tell him where they’re keeping Jason, because he’s not controlling the vampire against his will…

Or is he?

He’s. He’s actually not completely sure, and that’s terrifying him.

Jason agreed to the bond out of necessity, that wasn’t Tim’s fault, and it was also Jason’s choice to make Tim the master. The only orders he ever gave Jason were the ones Jason wanted himself, to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone when he lost control again.

The only time Jason asked for something and Tim denied it was when he wanted to feed on Tim. That was probably out of line? Jason looked really miserable towards the end, maybe Tim shouldn’t have waited so long. Next time he’ll-

_Teeth sinking into his skin, all at once, tearing and ripping and not caring if they hurt because they’re going to kill him anyway, they’re killing him and it hurts so much, he can’t get free and he doesn’t want to, he only wants for it to end and is so relieved and terrified when the world fades out—_

Sharp nails dig into his arm, pulling at skin, and it hurts but it’s enough to snap him out of it. He notices how he’s trembling.

He should let Jason feed sooner this time, not wait so long, but-

He can’t- He can’t do this, can’t do it all.

Just the idea of Jason’s sharp fangs is enough to make him feel sick with fear.

~*~

11:01 pm

Today Bruce has learnt a lot. As always the information only leads to more questions, but it’s a start.

If Jason is to be believed, he now knows roughly what happened to the vampire and Tim over the last two weeks.

The problem is. At first he thought he’d have to protect Tim from Jason. Now it looks more like he needs to protect Jason from Tim. Or maybe protect them from each other. On the other hand…

It’s not because they’re both vulnerable. It’s because they’re both dangerous.

And they both can’t be trusted.

Jason is a vampire and has made it more than clear that makes him different. Not just in terms of appearance. He’s out of control, killed over a dozen people in the most gruesome of ways without any remorse. He admitted to needing blood, so he’ll kill and bite again.

Jason is a monster and locking him up was a wise choice.

Tim is… Tim may be hurt, but managed to become Jason’s master, which according to Zatara means Jason needs to obey his every word. Since Blood can’t be involved with this, it could mean that this spell was Tim’s plan. And according to both of his sons, Tim is the one in control of whatever they’re doing, and well aware of his power over the vampire.

Tim is a genius, controlling a powerful weapon, and he’s probaly forgotten about the difference between right and wrong.

For now, all Bruce can do is try to learn more.

Until then, keeping both Jason and Tim locked up, apart from each other, is probably the best course of action he can take.


	13. December 13th - The Day Tim Steals Some Cutlery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tries to roll, get to his feet again and run ahead, but by the time he’s gotten up, Bruce is already there. A black gauntleted hand presses him to the cave wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see you're all starting to get suspicious of Jason Blood... Just as I planned. But you know nothing yet >:D There are far more sinister things ahead...

00:24 am

Tim doesn’t feel too good right now.

It’s not the uncomfortable pull of the IVs hooking his arm up to the transfusion bag. It’s not the tightness of the shackle around his ankle, either. Not even the footsteps and shapes of Bruce and Dick and Alfred moving around the cave, while he’s chained up all the way over here.

He’s feeling strange. Not sick or weak, pretty healthy even, but something is _missing_.

Tim is pretty sure that something is Jason.

He’s angry at Bruce for not believing him, and for lying. He’s- He’s sure Bruce lied. Jason wouldn’t leave him behind. There’s nagging ugly doubt eating away at him, that Jason actually would, but he’s trying to shut out that voice by telling himself that Jason needs his blood.

Still. If Jason didn’t leave, he should be here, right?

He just isn’t.

Tim wonders where he is and what’s keeping him away. Did Bruce throw Jason out? Did he lock him away somewhere else?

In that case, it’s Tim’s fault, isn’t it? He’s thought about what happened after he was attacked. He feels like Jason was there. When Tim nodded off again and memories kept flashing in his dreams, Jason’s voice was there, too. Telling him to stay awake, to not give up, that he was safe now.

Jason brought him here. To the cave.

That in itself is a statement of just how desperate the vampire must have been. After all, Tim decided to avoid Bruce and leave him in the dark for a reason.

Having Jason show up, turned into a vampire, and with Tim half dead must have sent Bruce onto god knows what crazy paranoia trip. Which would also explain his current behavior.

Tim hates himself a little. If he hadn’t been so weak, hadn’t lost against those vampires, they all wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

Dick sends sad, compassionate glances his way every so often. It makes Tim angry at Dick, too, because it’s not like Dick can’t help him. He could just get him the keys for the shackles, for one.

But the weird thing about Tim’s anger is, it’s like… resonating in his head. A small echo whispering from the back of his mind, not quite feeling like the rest of him.

Tim likes knowing that echo is pissed at Bruce, too.

Speaking of the devil, Batman approaches him again. He’s not even arrived at the med bay yet, but Tim already wants to shout. Heavy steps come to a stop in front of him.

"So, are you going to take these off now?" Tim asks with a raised brow, lifting his shackled ankle to make the chain dangle.

Stoic expression. Tight. Calculating. “You’re going to stay here until we know for sure what happened.”

Tim grinds his teeth. “Yeah? And who exactly is ‘we’? Because I doubt Alfred and Dick are on board with this.”

Thin lips get thinner, the faintest twitch of an eye. “You’re dangerous.”

"You’re the one who trained me," Tim fires back.

"You’re controlling Jason."

"I’m keeping him from killing people." And Tim really hopes that this conversation won’t lead to a life sentence for him here, because that’s the direction it’s currently going. Admitting to controlling Jason is difficult, because then he needs to tell Bruce about Jason’s uncontrolled side.

He doesn’t want for Jason to get in trouble like that. The Red Hood is already their opponent. Adding ‘uncontrolled bloodlust’ and ‘superhuman abilities’ to that really isn’t necessary.

Out of the corner of his eyes Tim sees Dick slink away into a sidearm of the cave he didn’t know was used. And suddenly things click in his brain.

 _That’s where they’re holding Jason_.

That’s why Jason’s not here.

That’s why Bruce is talking to him right now, even though he’s neither asking questions nor stating anything Tim doesn’t know already. He’s _distracting_ Tim.

Alright. He needs to do this the smart way. Despite feeling fine, he knows that he’s still weakened. He can’t take it up in a fight with Batman. But he’s going to think up a plan.

He’s going to get himself and Jason out of here.

"Tell me what you’re playing at, Tim," Batman demands, and for a split second Tim thinks he’s already been figured out.

Then the rational part of his brain snaps back into action and tells him even Bruce can’t know that yet. He needs to pretend he doesn’t have a clue and wait for his chance.

"I’m trying to help Jason figure out this new side of himself," he answers calmly.

Batman’s white eyes narrow even more. “That’s not what you’re doing.”

Tim shrugs. It’s not like he can convince Bruce of anything else, if he isn’t even allowed to talk to Jason.

Hell, Bruce has _locked_ Jason _away_ and won’t even _tell_ Tim about it. It’s like the worst possible reaction Tim imagined when he decided to avoid the bats.

With a swish of the cape, Batman turns away and leaves.

And Tim starts working on his plan.

~*~

03:31 am

It’s half past three in the morning, and as far as Tim knows both Batman and Nightwing are out in Gotham. Sure, there are still surveillance cameras, but he should have enough time to get Jason and leave the cave before Bruce is able to make it here.

Luckily for him, Alfred was kind enough to bring him food. Said food came with a fork, and judging by the distasteful look Alfred gave the shackles, it wasn’t an oversight when he left again and didn’t mention how said fork disappeared from the tray.

Bruce could learn a thing or two from that man. Especially when it comes to trust.

Cracking the lock of the shackles was complicated and took way longer than Tim anticipated it would. Still, now that they’ve finally opened with a quiet ‘click’, it’s time to disappear.

On the far end of the cave, he’s already spotted a motorcycle. It doesn’t look like anything they’ve ever had down here before, more like a normal machine a random citizen would own, so Tim guesses someone hijacked it at one point to get to the cave faster. Probably that was Jason.

He pulls out the IV needle and gets to his feet.

Any dizziness making him stumble fails to appear, and that’s definitely a good sign. After inspecting the vast amount of bandages, Tim guessed he’d feel horrible, transfusion or not. But he’s actually been fine so far.

The sidearm of the cave didn’t have any lights the last time Tim was at the cave, which was about two months ago. He’s barely stepped into it when he hears steps in the cave behind him, and they don’t sound like Alfred’s.

Out of instinct he starts running, putting everything he has into the sprint. The sound of boots running on hard ground chases after him.

"Tim, stop!" Bruce calls, and for a second Tim glances over his shoulder. Both Bruce and Dick are coming after him, and it looks like they’re catching up fast.

He looks forward again. This part of the cave can’t be too long, he just has to get to Jason, then they’ll figure out the rest-

But after just a few seconds more his lungs are burning, legs screaming at him to go slower, and yeah, now it’s obvious he’s not back to full health yet.

The tunnel is winded and the floor is wet and slick in places, which is Tim’s end when he makes the mistake of looking back again. He steps into a puddle, foot slipping away and sending him falling to the ground.

He tries to roll, get to his feet again and run ahead, but by the time he’s gotten up, Bruce is already there. A black gauntleted hand presses him to the cave wall.

"Stop," Bruce hisses at him, sounding like Batman even without the cowl.

"He’s here, isn’t he?" Tim hisses back, kicking out at Bruce despite the way the action makes his head spin. "You’re holding him down there. Your stupid suspicions have blinded you so much that you’ll keep Jason locked away forever, just because you don’t trust him!"

"You know nothing," Bruce snarls at him and slams him back against the cold stone. Not expecting that, Tim cant stop his head from crashing against it. Great, now he feels even worse.

But. This feels like excessive force. Even for Bruce suspecting him of god knows what.

Something isn’t right here.

"You’re not yourself anymore, Bruce! You can’t even see clearly! Jason is-"

Tim’s voice gets stuck in his throat when he’s slammed back again, skull clanking painfully against stone.

It’s a bit like the last time he lost against Jason. That was- God, it feels like so long ago, but it hasn’t even been two weeks. And now Batman, the man Tim never expected to be fighting, is doing this to him, because he’s trying to help Jason.

Irony of fate, he guesses.

"Don’t you dare say that," Bruce growls between the black spots dancing through Tim’s world. "You’re at least as much to blame for this as Jason is. You’re the one controlling him, and once I find out what you’re getting at-"

"You’re not making any sense, Bruce, I’m not-" Tim’s breath hitches as Bruce’s fingers dig into one of the bite wounds on his throat.

His face leans closer into Tim’s field of vision and for a second Tim is sure Bruce’s eyes are black and his canines long and sharp. “You don’t know anything, Tim.”

He’s slammed back again, and some of the black spots are getting red and white.

"You have no idea who you’re upsetting here-"

Fingers digging into his skin harder, Tim can feel the teeth, the pain, torn flesh and wet blood-

"No idea at all, do you, you think this is all just fun and games-"

Wetness at his throat and screaming pain in his head, not enough air in his lungs no matter how hard he tries to breathe-

"-think you can trust the new vampire, don’t you, you’re in for a surprise-"

\- he can’t breathe at all, can’t get out of the grip holding him and the teeth digging into him-

"-nothing personal kid, but you have to die," the vampire laughs-

\- his body is burning with pain and part of him wants for it to be over and he’s so terrified of this, he can’t, not alone, he doesn’t want to die all alone-

“ _Jason_ ,” the sound cracks through Tim’s lips, quiet and helpless and no one will ever hear him unless he ignores the tearing in his lungs and screams with all he has, screams like his body does-

“ _Jason!_ ”

~*~

03:38 am

Jason is so fucking pissed at Bruce by now.

He doesn’t have a clock or sunlight down here, but he’s sure he’s been here for at least two days now. And still nobody has said anything about Tim waking up or being better.

What if Tim’s in a coma? God.

Jason doesn’t want to think about things like this, but one horror scenario after the next keeps popping up in his head.

He thinks he can hear footsteps again, but the odd thing is that it sounds like they’re running. Just a few moments later the person rounds the last corner and comes into sight.

It’s Dick, wearing the Nightwing suit, completely out of breath and his expression a mix of worry, doubt, and fear.

Jason doesn’t know what would make Dick look like that, but it can’t be good. Did Tim-

Dick’s fingers slide over the wall, making a console pop out and he’s hitting keys, until suddenly Jason’s cuffs come free.

Jason stumbles forward, almost falling down because his arms and legs feel completely numb, but that’s not what matters here. What matters is what has Dick look like someone died and why he’s suddenly releasing Jason.

Please don’t let it be Tim, don’t let Dick tell him there were complications and Tim’s-

Dick is so out of breath, he can only look at Jason with desperation in his eyes and point back to where he came from-

“ _Jason!_ ”

The shout tears through the cave, silent and far away, but that broken, raspy, strangled voice is Tim’s, and Jason has never heard so much _fear_ in it.

His legs have already done the reasonable thing and started running like his life depends on it, only it’s something even more important.

Tim’s scream was a scream for help, something terrible is happening to him, and the way the bright lights start burning in Jason’s eyes only feels appropriate now as he’s making himself run faster-

And then he’s around the last turn, and Tim is there. Pale and shaking and terrified like Jason has never seen him, struggling desperately to get out of Bruce’s arms holding him-

It’s the second time now that Jason is glad for the way his new side can let go and just _hurt_.

Things blur out of focus, everything except for Bruce and _Tim_ who get sharp and real.

Jason’s body acts on its own, hitting and punching and dodging and tearing at the Batman, ignoring the pain in arms and knuckles and bones, red flashing in his vision and smelling like victory, growling, hissing, teeth digging into flesh to hurt, there’s-

He’s vaguely aware of Tim’s body slumped against the wall, safe for now, and the frail neck in front of him, unguarded for a second because Bruce only expects him to kill with his hands, but this time Bruce is the one who hurt Tim, and Jason won’t make exceptions while protecting, he’ll-

He’s not allowed to kill. He can’t.

The next instant black and blue barrels into his side, pushing him to the ground. It’s not enough to make things clear again, but they get clear enough.

Tim’s lost consciousness, Jason needs to get him out of here. He can’t waste his time with fighting. He grabs Tim’s limp body and runs.

~*~

11:18 am

Jason is going to _kill_ them.

Maybe just Bruce. But he will find a way to ignore Tim’s order and _end_ the man.

The motorcycle he’d stolen to bring Tim to the cave as fast as possible was still there. Jason hijacked it again, discarded it across town and brought Tim back to the safe house they stayed at before. Bruce shouldn’t be able to find them here.

Tim still hasn’t woken up.

It’s obious he’s not okay, not just sleeping. He’s trembling, pale, curling in on himself like he wants to hide from the world. At one point Jason thinks he saw tears glistening on Tim’s cheeks, and Bruce should better be hoping Tim’s terrified of the vampire assault, because otherwise he’s going to literally tear that man apart.

From time to time Tim’s making noises. Scared whimpers, little mutters, once or twice a strangled scream of pure terror.

Jason’s sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall behind him and with Tim’s head on his thigh, softly patting Tim’s hair or shoulder. They haven’t pulled up the blinds ever since they got here, except for the experiment, but not even sunlight could make him leave this place.

He might not be able to do much for Tim. He knows from his own nightmares how terrifying things can be, especially distorted in your own mind. Sometimes Tim is clawing at the blanket and whispering for things to go away.

Whenever he tosses, Jason’s gaze automatically wanders to the bandages around Tim’s throat and chest. He still remembers all the red bloody bite wounds fresh in Tim’s skin, and the thought makes him sick and want to kill the vampires again.

He’s thought about that, too. He couldn’t kill Bruce, which, now that he’s out of his furious haze, looks like a better decision than murdering the Batman. He wasn’t able to do it, because Tim’s word is still law for him. But killing the vampires worked, and it irks him, because techincally it _shouldn’t_ have.

It’s just as strange as the memory of Tim’s blood smeared everywhere - he didn’t lose control. Well, he did, but out of protectiveness. He didn’t feel any urge at all to feed on the young man, which according to Blood, he should have.

It’s all very weird and strange and one big mystery. The only group of vampires they found is dead, they still haven’t managed to find C, and the next time they run into Batman is going to be even more of a desaster.

Tim whines, the high noise tugging painfully at Jason’s heart, and he clenches his fist against the urge to tear out someone’s throat before resuming his patting.

He’s… Jason’s had a lot of time to think about things while he was locked up, and he’s well aware that what he feels for Tim right now is-

He’s protective and worried and wants nothing more than for Tim to be safe and happy.

Tim is… the best and most important thing in his life.

Jason would die for Tim. Literally. Seeing Tim like this is making him feel miserable on a whole new level. If he could do anything, anything at all to make Tim’s life even a little brighter, he’d sell his soul for it on the spot-

So. Yeah. He’s in deep here, he just doesn’t now in what.

Is it love? He’s… not sure. Sure, he’s been crushing on people, but he’s also missing a few important years of his life here, love-wise, so he’s doesn’t know.

Or it could be the bond, messing with him. Making the bonded slave feel like protecting and caring for his master, that is something Jason would definitely do if _he_ was a magical bond enslaving someone.

So, Jason’s not sure what this is.

But he knows his very being is clenching painfully every time Tim whimpers in agony, and he knows how his heart flutters in his chest when Tim finally opens his eyes, sees him and after a moment smiles in relief.

Jason doesn’t know what it is that’s making him feel this way. If it isn’t love, love can go fuck itself for all he cares, because this is-

This is definitely more important.

~*~

11:25 am

Tim slowly opens his eyes.

It’s pleasantly dark around him, just bright enough to make out where he is and who he is with.

Jason is sitting on his bed, his leg serving as Tim’s pillow, and it’s a little bit odd, because Tim’s sure he was either on the street being eaten by vampires or in the batcave, but.

If Jason is here, it can’t be too bad.

"Hey," he greets, smiling a little. "Haven’t seen you in a while."

The corners of Jason’s mouth twitch up in amusement. “Yeah, I was a bit… holed up there for some time.”

Tim chuckles weakly. His body feels good again, the pain is gone, but at the same time he feels so very faint. Wants to scream and run away and hide. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

"It’s fine, Tim. Wasn’t your fault," Jason reassures him, and his expression gets even softer than it was before. Then it turns grim. "Dick let me out. What the hell did Bruce do to you?"

Tim shakes his head. “Nothing, I… I think. It’s all a bit blurry. I slipped my cuffs and went to get you free, but he stopped me. Then… I. I think I had some flashbacks from when I was attacked. I panicked, and-“

"You called for me," Jason finishes the sentence, and Tim wonders why there is a hint of amazement in Jason’s voice.

He nods again, closes his eyes for another moment.

It’s okay, now. They’re back at the safe house, no vampires, no Batman, just him and Jason. Everything’s going to be fine.

The memories still haunt him in his dreams, but he’ll deal with that, somehow. The biggest problem is going to be letting Jason feed on him again.

"What happened to them? The vampires that attacked me?" he asks, looking back at Jason, whose lips go tight at the question, a furrow appearing between his brows.

"I killed them," Jason mutters, voice low. "I don’t know how, your order should have stopped me, but I killed them. All twelve. Bruce gave me a lecture about it."

Tim wants to tell Jason that they’ll figure it out, but… Something in his brain pipes up, this isn’t right. Suddenly he gets it. “They were thirteen.”

"What?"

He sits up, throwing his feet out onto the ground and waving away Jason’s hand that wants to pull him back into bed. “Thirteen. If you killed twelve, one of them got away. The leader, probably, they had a leader, and he talked, boasted even, he said-“

Tim’s eyes go wide.

That idiot vampire told him _everything_ he needs to know. Enough to finally solve this puzzle he and Jason have been standing in front of the whole time. But they couldn’t see the answer, of course not, because their angle was all wrong.

Jason is right behind him and looking worried for Tim’s health, physical as well as mental. “Tim, I really think you should rest some more-“

"Jason!" Tim turns back to him with glinting eyes, after he’s pulled out comparably clean clothes from different piles scattered in his sleeping room. "He told me everything. He told me where to find C, and he told me- We’ve gone about this all wrong. We’ve been looking for all the vampires, where they might feed or live here, or where they might be looking for the magical object Blood talked about that lured them here. But that’s not what they’re doing. They’re trying to leave Gotham, but they can’t. Someone’s- Someone has set a giant vampire trap, and they’re all looking for the way out."

~*~

08:06 pm

Talking with Zatara again hasn’t given Bruce much. He doesn’t know more about the bond, and Jason Blood is still nowhere to be found.

And to add to that, his shoulder hurts like hell. Jason dislocated it. Or. The vampire did.

Dick is walking up behind him, and Bruce sends him an angry glare. Releasing the vampire was _not_ a good decision, especially not with all the other things that happened.

When he stopped Tim- Tim struggled and Bruce held him, but suddenly the young man went rigid. Pale, eyes staring into nothing, and struggling becoming increasingly frantic.

Then Tim called Jason’s name, and the vampire came.

Completely out of control, a snarling monster, trying to tear Bruce apart. Literally.

It’s… unsettling. Deeply so.

Not only Jason’s complete lack of restraint and the way he almost killed Bruce if it wasn’t for Nightwing’s interference. But the way Tim called and had that murdering monster obeying his command.

Like a puppet master. Only the puppet is a vicious beast and going to kill dozens of people at this rate.

Bruce is… He’s not happy with how things are, not happy with how Dick acted on his own and unleashed an uncontrollable threat, not happy with the vampire running lose, not happy with the puppeteer behind the monster.

He’s not happy with how his sons have turned into what might be the biggest threat to Gotham’s people to date.

And he’s not happy about the measures required to stop them.

But Bruce has a duty to Gotham’s people, and he may not like it, but he _will_ do what’s necessary to protect his city.


	14. December 14th - The Day Tim’s and Jason’s Quest Takes a Very Un-climactic Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The woman at the make-shift reception is very friendly, immediately offering Jason and Tim a room for the night, and the second she starts talking about _the bed_ , singular, and how everything they might need is in the drawer, Tim’s face turns the color of a very ripe tomato and he snatches his icy hand of death back from Jason’s grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I see, some of you are picking apart Bruce's behavior and not content with it. Now please let me tell you, it's not that I fucked up writing him. Some things here are planned.

00:58 am

They’re in the outskirts of Gotham, close to where they found the two vampires a few days ago. It makes the back of Tim’s neck prickle, but he can see Jason checking the scents of the people around them, so he hopes they’ll be warned in case any other vampires appear.

Just getting to this street took them more than an hour. Avoiding Batman is not easy, and word on the streets already has it that he’s looking for Red Hood and Red Robin.

Tim and Jason both have their hoods pulled deep into their faces. It’s gotten really cold by now, so everyone’s huddled up in warm clothes and they don’t stand out.

"You want me to do _what now_?” Jason asks with a really confused glance at him, his breath forming white little puffs. He’s looking at Tim like he’s seriously worried for his sanity.

And Tim wants to come forward with what he’s figured out, he does, but it’s still a work in progress. He didn’t get much of what the vampire said to him while he was attacked, and now some of it is coming back to him in bits and pieces. That makes drawing conclusions difficult, but a few things Tim is actually sure about.

"I want you to leave Gotham. Geographically, I mean," he repeats. If his theory is correct, then Jason should-

Jason shrugs. They walk together down the street, then even further. It gets darker, quieter and less crowded around them. Just after they’ve turned into a completely empty street, only dark houses left and right, Jason suddenly stops walking and stumbles back.

A faint crackle is whirring through the air, almost like electricity. Tim doesn’t feel anything at all, but Jason is looking very confused and his nose looks even redder, as if he ran against a solid wall.

"You can’t leave, right?" Tim asks, a smile cracking on his face and glee sneaking into his voice.

"Uh. Yes, apparently so…?" Jason gives him a betrayed look, like it’s Tim’s fault. He puts his hands in front of him, touching thin air and to Tim it very much looks like Jason’s trying to become a mime. A very talented mime.

The faint crackling rises up again, then suddenly a spark snaps in front of Jason’s hands and the man stumbles back. He turns to Tim who is still a few steps ahead of him. “What the hell, Tim?”

Smling even wider, Tim starts gesturing at the invisible obstacle as he explains. “Remember how Blood said that there’s a powerful magical object in Gotham, and that its power is what’s drawing the vampires here? Well, that vampire guy who attacked me. I wasn’t sure if I remembered it right, but I think he said something about a barrier that’s keeping them here. So all the vampires who were lured in, they can’t get out now.”

"And neither can I, apparently," Jason mutters, eying the spot Tim’s standing in with a bit of jealousy.

"Well… yeah?" Tim cocks his head to the side in thought. "But. I doubt the barrier’s always been here. The vampire said someone, like, cast it. So, obviously, there’s something going on in the vampire world right now, and once we’ve stopped it, you should be free to leave Gotham again, too."

Jason nods a little in agreement. Tim’s still trying to clear out what else he heard, but it’s starting to get really cold just standing around.

"Hey, Tim?" Jason starts, continuing after a contemplative "Hm?"

"Are you alright? This whole vampire attack thing seems to really freak you out."

Tim blinks, pulling his jacket tighter around himself against the cold. “I guess, a little? It’s. I’m used to a lot, but that was a bit rough, and also cutting it close with dying. It’s just… I’ll be fine.”

Jason doesn’t look like he believes him at all, but… Tim really _is_ going to be fine, okay?

He’s dealt with crazier stuff. Just a few more days, and he’ll get over it. After the Joker and the rest of their villains, he’s not going to lose his mind over a few vampires.

Sighing, Jason steps back a little. “Come back in here? It’s getting cold. And you shouldn’t even be out yet, I’m amazed you’re able to stand after how injured you were.”

Tim passes back through the barrier, into Gotham - he feels nothing, it’s really amazing. He wouldn’t have noticed this thing at all if it wasn’t for Jason running against it nose first. They make their way back.

"Maybe it’s the healing skills Blood mentioned?" he thinks out loud. "Like. Blood said I’d regenerate blood faster, making it possible for you to feed from me all the time. And with the addition of the transfusions, maybe my body is just healing really fast?"

"Might be," Jason hums. "I mean. It’s not like we actually know anything about this stuff at all."

~*~

They walk in silence after that, mostly because the streets are getting more crowded again and there are a lot of surveillance cameras to avoid without looking suspicious.

Tim suddenly stops, and Jason almost runs him over. He follows the smaller man’s line of sight, but he can’t see anything worth catching Tim’s gaze. “What is it?”

"There," Tim says, pointing at a run-down small building crammed between two much bigger ones. It’s brightly illuminated, flashing signs announcing it as the _'Lion's Den - The Best Place To Spend Your Night'_ , and Jason’s really not sure if it’s a questionable motel or a brothel. Maybe both?

Whatever it is, Tim’s apparent interest in it is freaking him out a little. He’s not sure why. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t considered Tim to be the type to ever visit a place like that at all. Or maybe it’s because his brain suddenly feels the need to point out that Tim might want more out of life than just to be Jason’s meal.

It’s a very unsettling thought.

Tim looks at him, his entire face scrunching up as he snorts into his hand. His cheeks flush as well, even more than they already are from the cold. “Jeez, Jason, don’t look at me like that! I wouldn’t- The vampire said, I think, that C ‘can’t hide in the lion’s den forever’. I thought it was a figure of speech, but. Maybe it wasn’t. She might be in there.”

Jason silently stares at Tim a few more moments for good measure, before he critically eyes the house again. “In there? You sure?”

"Um… maybe? It’s all kinda hazy in my mind. But I think he said ‘Lion’s den’. It would make sense?"

Jason looks at Tim again, both eyebrows raised. He gestures at the flashy letters, making Tim shrug.

"If she’s not, we can just leave again? I think it’s a motel…?"

"It better be. We’d look stupid asking for her if it’s not," Jason chuckles, amused that Tim’s had the same thought as he did. Well, this isn’t one of Gotham’s nicer neighbourhoods after all. "C’mon, let’s investigate." And with that he grabs Tim’s hand - oh Jesus _Christ_ , that kid is getting gloves from him for christmas, how is it possible that he hasn’t frozen off any fingers yet, those hands are colder than Mr. Freeze’s - and pulls him to the entrance.

Tim looks around like he wants to run away already, and Jason has to agree that it does feel a little weird to enter a house through the front door instead of crashing in through the window.

Well, maybe acting like normal people every once in a while isn’t that bad?

It’s nice to think about that. Nicer than to face the bit of dread welling up in his stomach, anyway. If Tim is right, and C is actually here, then… He’s going to talk to her in a few minutes.

The woman who bit him. Who made him into… _this_.

He’s not sure how he feels about that.

The woman at the make-shift reception is very friendly, immediately offering Jason and Tim a room for the night, and the second she starts talking about the bed, singular, and how everything they might need is in the drawer, Tim’s face turns the color of a very ripe tomato and he snatches his icy hand of death back from Jason’s grasp.

Then, while Tim warily eyes every single person around them, blush intensifying every time the girls on the other end of the room point at them and giggle, Jason does his best to clear things up.

A few minutes later, they make their way up two narrow stairs, looking for room 23 where ‘Cornelia’ is currently residing.

Jason thinks he might just have left the receptionist under the impression that a threesome is about to happen, but. That was an accident. He really didn’t mean for it to come out like that, honestly. Especially not with how Tim looks like he’s going to faint from embarrassment. Particularly his cheeks are a very nice vibrant magenta. There’s a single drop of sweat running down the side of Tim’s throat, and Jason sort of wants to lick it away- aaaaand that’s where he stomps down hard on _that_ particular idea.

Though Tim really looks awfully embarrassed. It makes Jason wonder why, because as far as he knows, Tim has gotten a lot better with people things since his dorky, uncoordinated start into the double life. But right now? Tim looks like he’s been caught starring in porn or something.

Jason will definitely have to investigate this.

But not now, because they have finally arrived in front of Room 23. Jason knocks on the door, then steps back. They wait.

Part of Jason really hopes she’s not here. Doesn’t meeting your key person in a motel sort of ruin the whole adventure? Like. Where is the epic battle, the long tenuous journey? Crappy motel just doesn’t do.

The door in front of them opens. A half-tattooed face looks at them, green eyes skimming over everything before pink lips curve into a smile. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering how long it would take you to find me.”

It’s really her.

Jason forgets to breathe for a moment. This is a lot different from the last time he saw her. Red dreadlocks swish through the air, just like the last time she turned around, only this time she does it while gesturing for them to come in.

This woman _bit_ him. Turned him into a vampire and radically changed his entire life in a few seconds.

The room is small and cheap, but it’s crammed with books and a lot of ominous objects. Sigils and runes are scribbled on the floor, the walls, even the window and ceiling. It looks more like a small version of a wizard’s working place than a motel room that’s been rented for a few weeks.

Jason doesn’t know what to say to the woman.

Luckily, Tim has a handle on that. “Are you C?”

Her smile gets even wider, exposing sharp glinting teeth. “Ah, I see you did some digging. This here is the Red Hood, which only leaves us with the question who you are?”

"Tim," Tim answers. "I’m… working with Hood here."

"Ah, I see," C smirks, sinking down to a cross-legged seat on the small area of the floor that’s not plastered with old books or antiques. "Well in that case, make yourselves comfortable. Now that you’re finally here, I imagine we have some talking to do."

~*~

The first thing Tim and Jason do is taking off their coats and hoods. C’s heating is apparently working just fine, and the young woman looks comfortable enough wearing a top exposing her tattooed stomach.

Then they sit down, a bit closer to each other than to the vampire across from them. Jason has finally managed to gather his thoughts.

"So. Why did you turn me?" he asks, almost succeeding in keeping the distrust and slight anger out of his voice. He doesn’t know much about vampire etiquette , but he’s pretty sure that just suddenly turning people into vampires without asking first is fucking _rude_.

C cocks her head to the side slightly. It makes the black tear-shaped stone on the band around her throat glitter in the light of the flickering ceiling lamp. “You might have already noticed that things are going on. Big things. Someone is up to something, and he’s managed to lure a lot of vampires to Gotham and trap them here with a barrier. Even I can’t get out. This is serious, and I needed someone to do something.”

"What? So you just decided that I’d do and bit me?" Jason’s eyes narrow, and he looks really offended.

Snickering, C leans a bit closer to him. Despite her relaxed expression, she still exudes power and danger in a way that make Jason very aware of her movements. “As I said, this is serious. Someone with a lot of skills and influence had to be made aware of the situation. Batman’s too much in the spotlight to become part of this world permanently. But the Red Hood? A skilled and able fighter who’s a criminal most of the time and does whatever he wants anyway? You were the perfect choice, and you even came to me by yourself. All I had to do was bite you, and now you’re getting involved in this all on your own.”

"You attacked and killed people," Jason growls, shoulders going tense.

"Nuh-uh," C waves her finger at him. "Killing is something for mindless brutes. I only ever feed as much as I need, let the bite put them to sleep, and they’ll wake up thinking it was all just a bad dream."

"You can control your bite that much?" Jason asks, a bit amazed even though he doesn’t want to be. But being able to control whether you feed from or turn somebody is one thing; yet C is making it sound like a bite can accomplish almost anything. Just remembering to stop once he’s had enough is already proving to be difficult for him.

Looking pleased at the backhanded compliment, C nods. “Of course I can. It takes time, and some things require a little magic as well, but eventually you can do almost anything with the sedative from your fangs. Not use it alltogether, relax people, put them to sleep, numb the pain, even stop the bleeding afterwards. One time I met a guy claiming he could actually make it feel pleasurable, though I doubt that.”

That’s… actually quite amazing. Jason had no idea. “How long does it take to learn that?”

"Depends," C hums. "In the beginning most vampires daze their prey or make them sleepy. Happens subconsciously. The rest takes practice, months, sometimes years. I’m sure you two will eventually get there."

Jason blinks at her. Then his gaze flickers to Tim for a second, but the smaller man mostly looks embarrassed by the possible implications. Are they really going to stick together for that long? For… forever? “How’d you know I feed from him?”

"Oh, please," C snorts with a grin. "Do you think I’m blind? The kid’s all bandaged up around the throat, and you’re being hella territorial with him. I should tell you, that happens, too. Once you find a permanent source, your instinct makes sure you keep it. Though imprinting on someone so soon, that’s really impressive."

"I’m not territorial…", Jason mutters, a bit miffed.

Tim moves next to him and it catches his attention, because Tim’s been quiet the entire time and had that far-away look in his eyes that usually means he’s thinking. “You’re keeping something from us,” he states then, voice sure and steady, but not accusing.

C’s eyes widen for the fraction of a second, then she grins, showing off all her teeth. “Very good,” she praises Tim as if he’s a dog that’s accomplished a difficult trick. She winks at Jason. “I can see why you keep him around.”

Tim looks vaguely taken aback at the treatment, and Jason actually feels offended on Tim’s behalf.

"Would you answer to that, maybe?" he grinds out, doing his best to remain civil.

"Mh-hm," C hums, tapping her finger against her lower lip. "I’m not sure if I want to. Why would he even say something like that?"

Jason can see Tim’s nose crinkle in distaste a little bit. Still, the young man takes a breath and starts explaining. “After biting Jason, you disappeared from the streets completely. I guess you’ve been holing up in this motel, since one of the other vampires we… ran into said you’d be hiding in here. You say something big is going down in Gotham, and you have a very precise idea what’s needed to solve the problem. Yet you’re hiding, which implies that someone out there is out to get you. I assume it’s because you know more - who is actually behind this and what he’s trying to do.”

"Smart boy," C grins at Tim before her focus goes back to Jason. "He’s not even really wrong. You see, there is a reason why I bit you. The man behind all of this? Luring all the vampires to Gotham, trapping them? He’s a powerful mage, even more so than I am. I believe he’s trying to wipe out the vampires. All of us."

Jason growls as the realization hits him. “You changed me so I’d _have_ to stop him. Either succeed and save your ass in the process, or I’ll be dead, too.”

"It’s kind of brilliant, isn’t it?" Leaning back a little, C looks very content with herself and her little plan. Jason sort of wants to use the opportunity to go for her throat. "No need to get angry at me. I’d do it myself under usual circumstances, but this guy has some incredible skills. It’ll take more than just magic to take him down, and I believe that you, my dear Red Hood, are capable of that."

"I don’t have much of a choice, do I?" Jason growls angrily.

"Nah," C waves him off. "But I’m sure you can take him. If I’m not mistaken, you should have until the December solstice. He’s going to use the magical energies during that event to cast the spell that wpe out all of us."

"That’s the 21st. We only have a week left?" Tim looks like he can’t believe her. "If there’s only so little time, why didn’t you tell us?"

"Don’t be stupid, boy," C waves him off. "Would you have believed me? Hood needed to get a grip on this new side of his before he can try to solve this. Managing to find me was sort of your entrance test. You did it, so I can assume you’re ready."

"Is this a game to you?" Jason’s eyes narrow and his canines slip over his lower lip. The way C looks amused at the action just infuriates him even more.

"Believe me, I’m quite interested in surviving," C purrs. "But this guy, he could actually succeed in extinguishing vampires from earth. In case you haven’t realized it yet, that’s a pretty big thing. I’m not particularly interested in dying. But now that you have a… ah, personal investment in stopping him, I believe everything will be just fine."

"We’re not chess figures to be moved around," Jason hisses, leaning forward with curling lips.

For a moment C looks like she’s terribly amused by the situation, but then her eyes go cold and hard. She has Jason pushed down to the ground and a hand on his throat before he even knows what’s happening.

Next to them, Tim is jumping up, pulling out a throwing disk, but C doesn’t even seem to notice him. Her eyes are fixed to Jason’s throat.

"What is _that_?!” she hisses, looking horrified and disgusted all at once. “Is that a _collar_? You actually became some human’s _slave_?!”

Pushing her off of him, Jason gets up in a fluid movement. Tim’s right next to him, and it’s good to know he doesn’t have to handle the vampire on his own. “I very much doubt this is any of your business,” he hisses, pulling up the collar of his shirt a little more.

C rolls up to her feet and glares at Jason like she isn’t sure how anyone could possibly be so stupid. “What did you do, Hood? What were you even _thinking_?”

"Oh, shut up," Jason growls. "I didn’t want this, I _had_ to! I can’t keep losing control every time someone starts bleeding, so we had to give Tim the power to stop me!”

"What are you even talking about?" By now confusion and a bit of pity have crept into C’s voice as well. "Learning how to stay calm around blood is something you can learn in the first two weeks."

Whatever Jason was going to shout at her next, gets stuck in his throat. This… C is lying, right? Or it’s some kind of misunderstanding. He swallows. “What?”

C’s glance softens. Now she really looks like she’s pitying him. “This… losing control. It’s a defense mechanism. It happens when you’re in mortal danger or about to starve. Sometimes you can trigger it by being angry enough. But just smelling blood? You need two weeks at most to get used to that. Whoever told you differently was lying to you.”

Jason’s entire body tenses up, and this time it’s not C’s fault. His stomach feels like ice, and the mark around his throat suddenly seems to strangle him. “So your saying that, when I accepted to be bonded in order to solve the self-control problem, I fell for a trick? It wasn’t necessary?”

"Not necessary? You signed yourself away as a _slave_ , in order to solve a problem that would have been solved by now anyway! The best thing you can do now is kill your master and hope that breaks the bond. Who even told you that lie?”

Oh dear. Jason swears he can _feel_ how the careful trust Tim’s been building crumbles under that suggestion. He’s probably going to suspect Jason of trying to kill him for forever now.

"Jason Blood did," he mutters, and the way C tenses up at that is already making it clear what she thinks about that.

"Jason Blood _hates_ vampires,” she hisses with disgust. “He thinks we’re all mindless monsters. Figures he would try to take away your free will.”

Well. Shit.

But it doesn’t quite fit, and apparently Jason’s not the only one who noticed, because Tim levels a cool glare at C. “Blood spoke of you with quite high regard.”

"I’m an exception to the rule for him. And that’s only because my magical skills are better than his," C hisses at Tim.

"Why should we trust your word more than his?" Tim asks then, and this time his voice is accusing. It’s a valid question, though.

C smiles at Tim derisively. “Why should you trust _his_ word more than mine?” she asks right back.

Jason wonders if he should stop this conversation, because the tension between Tim and C is getting very uncomfortable. And they’re both right - either C or Blood could be lying to them. _Both_ mages could be lying to them.

Jason and Tim actually have no idea about nothing, and no idea who to trust with answers.

He grabs Tim’s shoulder. “I think we should leave now. We’ll come to you again if we need something.”

"Oh, you will," C purrs with a toothy smirk.

Jason drags Tim out of the room. They need to walk a long time before he can’t feel pale green eyes boring into his back anymore.

~*~

11:18 pm

Their day has been strange. It sort of figures. After all, now that Jason and Tim aren’t looking for C or other vampires anymore, the only activity left is avoiding Batman. And damn, that man is making it difficult for them.

They’re sitting on the couch. Again.

Just imagine that. They’re a superhero and a vampire, who may or may not have to stop the extinction of vampirekind in a week, and they spend their time sitting on a couch, complete with the ugly blanket.

They’re not even pretending to work anymore. The TV is running and playing news channel after news channel. For a while Jason thought Tim fell asleep, but glancing over at him shows that Tim’s eyes are open. The kid’s probably just thinking again.

"Who do you think we can trust?" Jason mumbles, stretching and then leaning back. With Batman breathing down their neck, they can’t even go out on patrol. Not having anything to do really sucks.

"I don’t think either of them is telling us the complete truth," Tim contemplates, shaking his head a little. "Usually I’d say Jason Blood, but."

"But…?"

"He said it takes about ten years for a vampire to learn self control around blood. Doesn’t that sound like an awfully long time to you? It’s. Logically thinking, it would be unreasonable. If it took that long, sooner or later a vampire would either draw a lot of attention to himself or get killed. I mean, just think about your first few days. Ten years like that and someone would figure the control issue out and use it to take you down."

"So you think Blood lied to make us agree to the bond?" Jason asks, and Tim nods, still looking into the distance.

"Yeah. And there’s other things, too… When I asked him about the bond, he said it’s one of the most powerful ones ever invented. Doesn’t that seem like suspiciously much effort? Plus, Bruce says they can’t even contact him. So technically, the Blood we talked to might not have been the real one at all. On the other hand, I don’t feel… I have a weird feeling about Bruce right now."

Jason nods quietly at that. “Me too,” he mutters. It’s not just that Bruce locked them up. Something about the man is off right now. Jason just can’t tell what exactly it is.

Tim interrupts his thinking then. “And this guy trying to excorcise all vampires? I’m not saying it’s true, but so far it’s the only motive for C to turn you. I mean, if her magic is useless and physical skills are necessary. Then we have pretty much no choice but to stop him.”

"Mh-hm," Jason hums. "But do we have any idea where to find him?"

Tim shakes his head, and Jason slumps even further into the back of the couch. “She didn’t even give us a name. I think she doesn’t know it, either.”

"Great. So I’ll just wait until I disappear next Sunday. Or burn, or whatever."

"Hmm," is the only answer Tim gives to that, and then he’s silent again.

Jason wonders if they should go out again and… look for the guy. It’s gonna be difficult with Batman around, but. He doesn’t think C is just making them search for fun. She looked serious when she said that this could kill them.

Maybe the guy who attacked Tim, the one that got away, knows something? But they haven’t been able to find him, either.

It’s all a very difficult situation right now.

What amazes Jason most, however, is how Tim hasn’t started carrying weapons again after they got back from C. He really expected Tim to assume that Jason would try to kill him, in order to get rid of the bond.

Is it because they have made actual progress relationship-wise? Is Tim actually starting to trust him? That would be pretty amazing. Jason might actually come to see the good in this, if it means he and Tim can learn to get along.

"Hey, Jason?" Tim breaks the silence after some more time.

With a questioning hum, Jason glances over to him. Tim looks a bit pale, and that’s odd because there is absolutely nothing around that could cause that?

"It’s been about five days now since you last fed, right?" Tim asks, fiddling with the edge of the blanket nervously.

"Yeah, just about…?" Jason has honestly no idea where this is supposed to go. "But I don’t feel particularly hungry or close to losing control. Look, I know this has to be difficult after being attacked by those vampire assholes. But I’m totally fine, so we can wait at least a few more days-"

"No, no, that’s not it," Tim interrupts him, clutching the blanket harder. "I… I want you to bite me _now_.”


	15. December 15th - The Day an Unexpected Event Messes Everything Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Then Jason sits up straight and pats his thigh. “Alright, come here.”
> 
> … Why did Tim ever agree to work with Jason, again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A certain scene in this chapter was the first thing I had in mind when I started planning this fic. Like. The one right now.

00:00 am

"I… I want you to bite me _now_.”

Jason is looking at him like he thinks Tim has finally gone insane. Tim can’t exactly blame him.

He’s afraid of the next bite, to be honest. Being attacked by all those vampires at once, almost dying from the blood loss, that was a bit traumatizing. But…

"If you bite me now, you’ll be best able to control yourself and it’ll be easier to stop. You won’t need as much blood, too. And, I mean, technically my fear of being bitten by you is unreasonable and based on a different experience. Waiting is probably only going to make it worse. So I think we should get it over with now."

Tim puts conscious effort into making his fingers stop fiddling with the blanket. Jason still looks at him with an expression that makes it clear how little he thinks of the idea. He also looks worried, and that is just… very strange.

"Tim, we don’t even know if you’ve fully recovered yet. We can’t-", Jason argues, but Tim interrupts him.

"We’ve been sitting here all day. Believe me, I’ve had more than enough time to check my health and blood pressure. I’m fine."

Jason’s lower lip comes forward. It’s a pout, but Tim doesn’t want to call it that, because Jason Todd _doesn’t_ pout. “I think this is a bad idea.”

"I think it’s a good one, seeing as things will only get more complicated later. Last time you felt like you were starving, and had a lot less control because of that. You said yourself you feel in control now. It’ll make things a lot easier," Tim reasons, and he’s not afraid to pout back.

"I don’t like it," Jason complains. "You’re pushing yourself too hard."

They glare at each other in silence, both unwilling to back down.

Then Tim decides to play his final card. “Jason, I wouldn’t suggest this if I didn’t think this is the best possible option. Waiting and putting it off, that would only make it harder. For both of us.”

"Still, I don’t think-"

"I trust you with this, Jason."

Tim can see Jason’s eyes widen in shock. Then the vampire backs up, raising his hands in defense. “Ooooh, no. Nope. Don’t think you can play me like that, Tim. I won’t fall for it. I know you don’t trust me _at all_ -“

"I trust you _with this_ ,” Tim repeats with emphasis. “I’m not trying to manipulate you. I know you don’t want to kill me. Or lose control and drink too much blood. So I trust you to feed now, stay calm, and pull back in time.”

The slightly frightening thing is, Tim is serious. He doesn’t know where it comes from - maybe from Jason’s overprotectiveness after the last time he fed, or the constant worry for Tim now. But Tim genuinely believes Jason doesn’t want to hurt him.

And he needs to convince his nervous, panicking mind of the same thing.

The bite won’t kill him. _Jason_ won’t kill him.

Jason’s looking straight into his eyes, searching for something Tim doesn’t know is there, but he seems to find it.

"You really want me to do it?" Jason asks him again, voice going a little rough with an emotion Tim can’t name.

He nods in return, ignoring the nervous flutter of his heartbeat. Better to get this over with now.

Jason closes his eyes. Breathes. Then looks back at him. Sighs deeply. “Okay.”

He’s glad Jason finally gave in, but Tim doesn’t like the bit of fear prickling in his stomach. Still, doing this now will help him get rid of it. No reason to be nervous. He survived the first time, and now Jason can handle himself a lot better than back then.

Then Jason sits up straight and pats his thigh. “Alright, come here.”

… Why did Tim ever agree to work with Jason, again?

"What the _hell_ , Jason?!”

He can’t believe it. Is Jason seriously asking Tim to sit in his _lap_? In order to get _bitten_? Is this some weird attempt to make Tim change his mind? Because it’s definitely working.

Cheeks flushing a little, Jason chuckles.”I don’t mean it like _that_ , Tim. I just don’t think pinning you against a wall like last time is the best way to do this.”

Tim wants to tell Jason in very specific words that sitting in his lap isn’t exactly _better_ , but. Well. It sort of is? In pretty much every other position it would be Jason looming over him. Like this Tim is on top. That’s… actually a nice thought?

Pressing his lips together, he gives Jason an indignant stare. “You could have said that from the start.”

"But then I wouldn’t have gotten to see your face," Jason grins, and Tim sort of wants to punch that expression.

He moves over to Jason, already feeling out of place. Throwing one leg over Jason’s and sitting down on the man’s thighs is… very weird. Tim’s cheeks feel flaming hot at the suggestiveness of the position.

Jason even has the audacity to move his hands to Tim’s sides and pull him closer. This makes it the perfect position for a headbutt, but Tim refrains from giving in to the urge. “This is the most awkward sucking of blood I have ever taken part in, Jason,” he complains.

Jason’s grin is suddenly getting a lot softer, as if he can sense how Tim is trying to fight off his growing dread with being snarky. “Hey, relax. One word and I’ll stop.”

It calms the scared flutter in Tim’s body, but a different, worse flutter starts instead. He gives Jason a very dry look. “We’re already sitting like this. You don’t have to make it _sound_ like we’re about to have sex, too,” he remarks, raising a brow.

"Don’t complain. I even stopped myself from saying ‘I’ll be gentle’," Jason chuckles, earning a hit to the shoulder for that, but it only makes him laugh harder.

Tim’s traitorous lips curl into a smile. “Just get it over with, would you?”

Still laughing a little, Jason pulls himself together. After a deep breath, he looks more composed. “Don’t worry, my love, I’m taking this all very seriously,” he purrs dramatically.

Tim thinks about hitting him again, but then Jason’s hands move up to his throat, taking off the bandage so very slowly and carefully that it become’s clear- Jason really is taking this seriously. He’s joking and making fun and doing his best not to spook Tim or make him freak out, and… Tim really appreciates it, okay?

Once the bandage is off, Jason spends several moments just staring at Tim’s throat. Tim wonders what he sees there. Jason’s thumb softly traces his skin and… That’s where the scar is. The one from the first time Jason held a knife against his throat.

The touch travels further, over to where Jason’s knife cut him two weeks ago. Tim wonders if that wound has fully healed yet. Judging from the way Jason stares at the place, probably not.

He turns his head in order to get a glance at his own neck. It’s a bit difficult, but some of the bite wounds are more towards his shoulders, peeking out under his shirt, and he can see those. They’re still looking red and angry, but at least they’re closed. That’s a definite improvement from the open gaping bloody mess Tim’s throat was before. Have the bruises from Jason strangling him two weeks ago healed yet?

"Your throat looks awful," Jason states quietly. Tim wants to answer something smart and snippy, but Jason suddenly pulls him even closer, until their chests are touching. Feeling the need to hold on to something but not wanting to hug Jason, he awkwardly puts his hands on the vampire’s shoulders.

Jason leans down more, tracing his lips over Tim’s skin, which causes the strange flutter in Tim’s stomach to come back. “Jason, I already allowed you to feed, I don’t require foreplay,” Tim mutters dryly. The sarcasm doesn’t do a good enough job of pushing down his creeping fear, though.

A chuckle gets stifled against the side of his throat. “But babybird, I want to make you feel special!”

"Save it." Tim grips Jason’s shoulders a little harder. With the vampire’s teeth so close to his throat, he’s getting uneasy again. His heart rate is already speeding up, and he feels the severe need to call it all off, they still have time-

"Shhh, relax," Jason whispers, and Tim isn’t sure anymore if this is part of their joking or if Jason actually means it.

Strong arms move from his sides around him, almost like a loose hug. Then chapped lips settle against the side of his throat, a soft touch, almost like a kiss. Tim’s body feels hot and cold at the same time, and he really wants to push Jason away-

Sharp canines pierce his skin, and Tim has to bite down hard on his lower lip. It hurts just as much as last time Jason bit him, even though it’s a lot better than when the other vampires did it.

Tim can practically _feel_ the memories and panic swirling through his mind, but one of Jason’s hands has sneaked under his shirt somehow and is softly stroking his side. For some reason, the touch is enough to keep him grounded.

This is Jason. This is safe. He’s- He’s not going to die.

A familiar cold and numb feeling spreads through his body. Tim can feel his blood being sucked, and it’s a very awkward sensation.

His eyelids almost immediately grow heavy, the panic draining out of him in a matter of seconds.

Running away would be so bothersome. He’s too sleepy for that. Clouds sweep through his mind, soft and cold and fuzzy and slowing his thoughts down.

Part of Tim wonders if Jason enjoys this? The vampire’s breath is heavy, and he’s pulling Tim tight against his body, still patting his side, just above the hip. C said humans couldn’t take pleasure in being bitten, but what about the vampire?

He can’t see Jason’s face, but it’s obvious the vampire likes the taste. Wants more. There’s even a very low, sensuous hum rumbling from Jason’s chest, and despite the way his body is growing colder by the second, Tim can feel his cheeks heat up at the sound.

His head starts feeling too heavy, sinking down, and he’s getting dizzy. Tired. Too many clouds. Can’t focus anymore. His body sways in Jason’s hold, slumps forward a bit, but then the vampire pulls back.

Tim can feel a few very tentative licks against the wound. “Jason…”, he whispers, not even sure what to say yet.

The vampire’s hand moves to his neck, lifting Tim’s head back up. Jason looks at him, pupils wide, taking up almost all of the iris except for a thin teal ring, and they look almost round, almost like a human’s…

With a low growl, the vampire pulls Tim closer, pressing their lips together.

And… Tim’s mind is sort of sluggish right now, but he’s pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen during a bite?

Like. There should be more biting. And less tongue pushing into his mouth?

The taste is awful. It takes Tim a moment to figure out that it’s probably because Jason tastes like his own blood. That makes the kiss a whole lot more awkward. There are lips moving against his and the foreign tongue is really persistent about staying in his mouth.

It’s all very… strange.

Jason makes the pleased, breathy humming noise again, and Tim’s brain finally comes to the conclusion that no, this should really not be happening right now.

It takes some effort to make his arms move and hands push against Jason’s shoulders, push _away_ despite the hold he’s in, but it seems to register.

Jason pulls back, heavy breath tingling on Tim’s wet lips, and… This is all very difficult.

"Tim," Jason whispers, voice low and rough and Tim’s not sure if he likes the sound of it or if he’s afraid of the way Jason says his name, like he’s the single most important thing on earth.

Tim’s head feels like it’s turning and floating away, and the rest of his body is about to keel over. And just thinking at all is so very hard right now. It’s difficult to find words, but Jason looks like he wants to kiss Tim again, and Tim is pretty sure he should stop that.

"Jason… don’t…", he gets out, but his tongue feels heavy and wrong in his mouth, and just keeping his eyes open is taking a lot of effort.

Jason’s fingers brush a strand of hair out of Tim’s face. It’s such a tender gesture that Tim feels the need to reevaluate a lot of Jason’s recent behavior, but now…

Jason’s moving closer again, and Tim somehow manages to push himself back a little way.

"No, d-don’t…", he tries again, the whole world spinning around him. Jason looks at him and blinks, and then a very heartbroken expression settles on his face. At least Tim thinks so, he’s not sure with all the black spots dancing over the image.

"Fuck… Tim, I’m sorry, I-", he hears Jason’s voice echo in his head, but it’s muffled and sounds far away.

Tim’s vision blurs even more, and then everything fades out. He thinks he can hear his name being called and feel hands holding him, but the world turns black around him.

~*~

00:23 am

Fuck.

 _Fuck_.

Jason thinks… _Shit_.

He… Okay. Deep breath. Chances are Tim didn’t just die on him. On top of him. In his lap. Whatever.

Tim is alive. He just blacked out because Jason sucked his blood, probably caused him to relive a recent traumatic situation, and kissed him against his will.

Everything is just _peachy_.

Pulse is there, strong and steady.

So the reason Tim suddenly fainted and fell over is maybe just the sedative? It’s not like Jason can control that. Yet.

Fuck, he… he needs to calm down. Gather facts. Act reasonably.

Maybe cry because he thinks that was a rejection.

He’s not even really sure what happened. That seems to be a thing with him and blood.

He bit Tim, that much is clear. The taste was as overwhelming as last time, and it was… Drinking blood is so much more than just feeding. It’s a rush and an addiction and a necessity and Jason can sort of understand why vampires would feed more often and take more blood than they need.

He’s actually quite amazed that he noticed when he had enough and managed to pull back, just lapping up the remaining drops spilling out. And then…

He was still so out of it and _needed_ more. Tim right in front of him, flushed cheeks and whispering his name-

He kissed him. Fuck. He has just kissed Tim Drake.

And he even thought Tim liked it, until the young man started pushing against his shoulders.

Fuck.

And now Tim is lying passed out half across Jason’s lap. Considering that he obviously didn’t enjoy kissing Jason as much as Jason enjoyed kissing Tim, that is probably really inappropriate.

After all, Jason doesn’t want to force himself on Tim.

So. No more kissing. Probably no more sex jokes, either, depending on Tim’s reaction. And no more beyond all that.

That is… Jason feels like someone has ripped out a part of him. His nose is tingling.

Wow. Pathetic. Is he really going to cry over this?

He isn’t even sure if it’s a crush. It could be the bond fucking him up. Could be his vampire side making him territorial, as C called it.

But he needs to focus on more important things right now. Tim seems to be fine, physically. So he either cracked under mental stress or because Jason has subconsciously fucked something up with the sedatives.

Either way, Tim needs rest now. So Jason carefully pulls him into his arms and carries him over to his bedroom. The med kit is still there from the last time, so he gently rubs disinfectant over the wound and then wraps it with new gauze.

Once he’s done, he leaves the room, quietly pulling the door closed behind him.

He just hopes Tim won’t be too pissed when he wakes up. Or start distrusting Jason again. That… Jason doesn’t want that. Tim is so very important to him right now, and some of it might be mystical shit making his life hell, but that doesn’t even matter, because Jason still _feels_ like Tim is the single most important thing to him.

He sits down on the couch and glares at a news anchor on TV.

He’s so upset that he doesn’t even notice the person who’s been outside the window.

~*~

00:35 am

Oh.

Oh, wow.

Dick is… a bit amazed at what he’s just seen? Disconcerted? Worried? Seriously questioning his eyesight?

He… He was quite proud of himself when he managed to find the safe house Tim and Jason have holed up in. Not even Bruce could do that until now.

And Tim and Jason were sitting on the couch, apparently talking, and everything was fine and cozy? Yeah. Well. And then a few truly unexpected things happened.

Things like Jason patting his thigh.

Tim actually climbing on said thigh and sitting in Jason’s lap.

Jason and Tim… cuddling? Flirting? Making out? Dick doesn’t even know. He knows a lot of possible ways to show affection, a few of them not even originating on earth, but what Jason and Tim have is sort of… hard to classify.

Maybe it’s a vampire thing? When Jason bit Tim, that looked a lot like a vampire thing.

Dick can’t even tell if he was shocked when they kissed. They had been sort of really close before? He wonders how long those two have already been… kissing. Among other things. That have yet to be determined.

What was a shock, however, was Tim suddenly slumping over to the side in Jason’s hold. Apparently unconscious. Wow. What happened there?

For a short moment, Dick sort of felt the need to inform Bruce. Tim obviously isn’t an evil mastermind and more in need of help, if he just fainted on the spot. Dick doesn’t want to suspect Jason of being responsible for that, but there aren’t many other options to consider, especially just after Jason obviously drank Tim’s blood.

But then… Then Jason lifted Tim up and carried him to his bed with such a gentleness that Dick felt really perverted for spying on it. Even more so than during the heated bite and kiss.

So. Now.

The question is, to tell or not to tell Bruce?

Because mostly Dick is sure that Bruce would just lock Jason up again, and Tim as well. Somehow the world’s greatest detective really latched on to the theory that their little Tim Drake is an evil vampire-mind-controlling villain.

That’s an even more ridiculous suspicion than the idea that Jason’s dangerous. Because that theory at least has a somewhat true base, not that Jason would intentionally go all blood-sucking monster on them.

Anyway. Focus. Alright.

He doesn’t think Jason wants to harm Tim. From the looks of it, it’s more along the lines of ‘very huge crush’.

If he tells Bruce about this, the man is going to freak out. No way overly paranoid, always distrusting people-Bruce is going to see this for the wonderful thing it could be.

So. Not telling it is, then.

~*~

03:41 pm

_Hands are pushing him down, digging into his flesh with inhuman strength and almost as much ferocity as the teeth. Everything feels so cold, so painful, wet sticky blood everywhere on white teeth grinning at him. Nothing but pain and hurt and cold and fear, he wants to run but he can’t, can’t escape-_

_He’s falling down into blackness, coming out the other end, world tilting sideways and suddenly he’s cold but warm at the same time. Pain at his throat and a big hot hand stroking his side carefully, tentatively. Then chapped hot lips pressing against his, sticky with his own blood-_

Tim groans, brows furrowing as he curls more into himself. It’s warm and soft around him, and when he opens his eyes a little bit he can see hideous orange fuzzyness.

There’s not a single part of his body that doesn’t feel heavy as lead. He’s still so tired and as soon as he shuffles out of the blanket cocoon, he’s shivering from the cold.

Still, it’s bright enough outside to have some of the light spill through the blinds, so he slept through most of the day. Again. He can’t keep doing this. They have a villain to catch within the next six days. Or… something is going to happen. Probably a bad something.

Yawning, he drags himself out of his bedroom. Jason is sitting on the couch, Tim’s laptop on one knee and staring at it with a level of fascination that suggests either he’s found the answer to all the questions in the universe in that thing or he’s avoiding looking at Tim.

Tim’s a little fuzzy on the details of what happened, but he’s pretty sure he didn’t imagine… certain things.

"There’s food for you in the kitchen. Should still be warm," Jason mutters, eyes still transfixed on what appears to be a google image search of kittens in christmas trees.

Avoiding it is, then.

Tim gets himself a plate of food, then sits down next to Jason, spreading out over his half of the couch. Balancing the plate on his right leg, he takes the first bite. Jason’s cooking is amazingly good, as he’s found out.

"So. Did I have some really weird dreams or did you actually kiss me?" he says then, pinning Jason with a stare that makes it clear he already knows the answer.

Jason glances over at him for just a second, flushing a little and looking guilty and embarrassed. “You didn’t like it,” he mumbles then, quietly.

Tim shakes his head, stabbing his fork into the spinach. He should have brought a spoon. “No, I didn’t. Being a vampire might have warped your tastes a little, but I am not someone who enjoys having their own blood pushed into their mouth.”

Jason’s gaze snaps to Tim with a scary speed, eyes wide. There’s so much hope in his expression, Tim feels bad for his choice of words immediately. “Is that why you didn’t like it? Not-“

"I also didn’t appreciate the sudden make out session, no."

"… Oh." Jason’s expression falls. Goddamn. Tim had no idea a vampire that size could look so miserable.

But… it’s not like he can lie. That wouldn’t make things better.

Still, it hurts to see Jason like that. And it’s sending Tim’s brain into overload, because… he’s pretty sure Jason has an emotional investment in this? This isn’t just ‘biting you got me hot so I kissed you’. It’s not just lust.

"Look, I’m, I… I’m sorry. I just don’t -", Tim starts before Jason interrupts him.

"It’s okay, Tim. Nothing you have to be sorry for," the man mutters, voice deep and a little rough, face suspiciously averted.

Tim still feels bad. It’s not like he wants Jason to be sad.

They sit there in silence. By the time it’s so dark that the sun must have set, Jason gets up, still not looking at Tim. “I’m gonna go out. Maybe I’ll find something on our mysterious antagonist,” he declares.

Tim nods at Jason’s back, then looks back at the cold food on his plate. “Okay. Be careful.”

A quiet chuckle. “Where would be the fun in that, babybird?”

Tim wants to answer something to that, anything at all, but he’s stopped by the sound of the door closing.

He swallows. He feels so awful, eyes burning, head hurting and stomach churning.

It’s all so… wrong. Things aren’t the way they should be. Tim carries his plate back to the kitchen, shaking his head to get rid of the increasing dread in the pit of his stomach.

Why does he feel like he just lost something important?

~*~

10:56 pm

"You’re hiding something," is how the conversation starts.

Dick sighs, flexing his fingers after pulling on his gauntlet, before turning around to face Bruce. “I am?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

He’s pissed at Bruce, okay? Locking Jason up was not okay. Locking Tim up even less. And this whole crazy theory he has about them being a threat is complete and utter bullshit. Even Alfred said that, though in other words.

The Batman’s white eyes narrow. “You know something imoprtant. And it’s bothering you so much you can’t hide it.”

Dick wants to say that no, he doesn’t, but Bruce is already talking again.

"Judging from the situation, it’s about Jason and Tim. What is it? Do you know where they are? What they plan on doing?"

"I don’t know anything, Bruce. Really, your paranoia is getting out of hand…"

Batman sighs, deep and heavy. It’s completely unexpected and Dick can’t quite believe it when the man steps back and pulls down the cowl, dark brown eyes giving him a serious, sad glance.

"Dick. Tell me. You know I’m careful, but I’m not unreasonable. I care about Tim and Jason just as much as you do, and I want to believe they’re not a threat, too." Bruce’s voice is calm and collected, but there’s also a deep tiredness in it.

With Bruce’s recent off-putting behavior, it was easy to forget how difficult all of this has to be for him. Easy to blame him, even though Dick had his doubts about Jason being a vampire as well.

He runs a hand through his hair. Takes a deep breath. Phrasing is everything with Bruce. “I found them. Tim and Jason, where they’re hiding. And they’re… Don’t take this the wrong way, okay? But I saw Jason bite Tim again. And then he kissed Tim. I think those two are… way closer than we thought. Maybe we should… Bruce?”

He turns around, stopping dead when he looks at the man again.

Something is terribly wrong. No, _no_ , how did he not notice—?!

He’s made a horrible mistake, he realizes, but it’s too late.


	16. December 16th - The Day Tim and Jason Share a Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe all they need is a break and then things will go back to normal.
> 
> Like. Him, the superhero, and his magically bound vampire sitting on the couch together and having a friendly little scuffle with Batman.
> 
> Tim buries his face in his hands with a groan. That’s his definition of ‘normal’? Really? What is his life coming to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time is seriously running out on me, and university's a lot of work too, right now, but I hope I'll still be able to upload the pictures in time.  
> Despair not at the end of the chapter, you will get answers in the next one tomorrow!
> 
> Also, there is artwork now by really lovely people, see here: redrobin. co. vu/ post/ 105288101394/ dont-complain-i-even-stopped-myself-from-saying

02:11 am

After getting the orange blanket from his bed and wrapping it around himself, working on the couch has almost become comfortable. Not that Tim’s really working. He’s too busy staring at his laptop screen and doing nothing.

What is he supposed to do, anyway? They know where C is. He’s avoiding Bruce just fine by sitting here. The more he thinks about Jason Blood’s actions, the more suspicious they seem. And the nameless guy who’s about to wipe all vampires from existence in five days is not really someone he can track down.

He’ll leave that to Jason. Who still hasn’t come back. Not that Tim blames him for that.

Tim is pretty sure Jason has a… a crush on him. It makes everything that happened, everything they did together recently so… weird, somehow.

And on the other hand, he’s not sure if it’s really a crush. God knows there is enough unknown magical stuff influencing Jason’s behavior right now. Maybe all they need is a break and then things will go back to normal.

Like. Him, the superhero, and his magically bound vampire sitting on the couch together and having a friendly little scuffle with Batman.

Tim buries his face in his hands with a groan. That’s his definition of ‘normal’? Really? What is his life coming to?

Maybe he should call his friends and hang out, like actual normal people would. But how normal is hanging out with a half-Kryptonian clone and a speedster?

The sound of a window opening makes him stop his musings.

Finally, Jason is back, now they can talk things out and somehow resolve this-

That’s not Jason.

~*~

02:17 am

Something is… wrong.

Jason stops walking on the rooftop, looking around. But it’s… it’s not here.

Still, he has this very insistent feeling something bad is about to happen. It’s at the back of his mind, nagging, insisting, growing. Just like the night when Tim was attacked-

 _Tim_.

This is… Whatever it is, it has to do with Tim. Tim is… in trouble? In danger?

Jason doesn’t know. But this dread is almost like a warning, a sign that he needs to get to Tim _now_ to stop whatever is about to happen.

He’s half-way across Gotham, but he immediately turns around and starts running with all he has.

He just hopes he won’t be too late, like last time.

~*~

2:17 am

"What are _you_ doing here?” Tim hisses, hand already grasping his collapsible bo staff. It’s not the most diplomatic way to start a conversation, but it’s appropriate considering the circumstances of their last meeting.

"Put that down, Tim. I’m just here to talk," the Batman tells him, straightening up as if to loom over him from across the room.

"Excuse me for not believing that, considering that the last time we met, you locked me up," Tim growls angrily, extending the staff and gripping it tighter. He doesn’t know how Bruce found this place suddenly, but whatever comes now, it won’t end well. And with being bitten again so recently, Tim is not sure how long he can hold his own in a fight.

The Batman takes a step back, more as a gesture than to actually back off. “I’m not here to fight,” he says. “I’m here to talk. You need to stop whatever relationship it is you’re having with Jason-“

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Tim almost squeaks. It’s as if Bruce knows about what happened last night, but he couldn’t possibly-

"I’m talking about letting him feed from you and kissing him," Batman answers calmly, and. Okay. So he _does_ know about what happened last night.

"That is none of your business," Tim hisses, raising the staff a little. He doesn’t know how Bruce got that information, but the point stands that what happens between Jason and Tim is private. And he certainly won’t listen to the orders of the man who tried to lock them away.

"It is. You are both my sons, and I care about you. Not to mention the fact that Jason has gotten even stronger and more violent as a vampire, and you’re the one controlling him-"

"I am _not_ controlling him!” Tim interrupts. He doesn’t know why Bruce is so obsessed with this idea, but Tim doesn’t use the bond to actually control or harm Jason. The very idea alone is despicable.

"Of course you are! And to make it all worse, now you’re even, _what_? Dating him? You’re not stupid, Tim, you have to know this can’t possibly work. You’re bad for each other. You’ll make-“

"How can you say that?!" Tim almost shouts in anger. It’s true he didn’t like Jason sticking his tongue down Tim’s throat, but that doesn’t mean Bruce has any right to talk like this. Tim cares about Jason, and he knows they’re good for each other. They’re-

"I raised both of you! It’s so obvious. Just look at you," Bruce’s voice goes from loud to quiet, and it makes the hairs at the back of Tim’s neck stand up. It’s as if the quiet words cut even deeper than the loud ones. "I can’t even trust you anymore. You’re up to god knows what, keep getting hurt, and you’re controlling Jason, while Jason is losing control over himself. He’s hurting and killing people even more than before and-"

"And what, Bruce? What is your solution? Locking both of us away for the rest of our lives?!"

"Making sure you don’t hurt anyone until I know what to do," Bruce growls.

Tim’s fingers clench around the bo. It’s infuriating to hear Bruce talking like this. He… He doesn’t even have a relationship with Jason the way Bruce assumes, and it stills hurts to hear what the man thinks of it. “Well, I’m sorry to break this to you,” he hisses. “But you’re not the only one who can find solutions. Jason and I are doing just fine on our own, and if you think so little of our teamwork, you should just keep out of-“

Bruce is suddenly in front of him, and Tim has no idea how that happened, because even the Batman shouldn’t be this fast.

Out of reflex he steps back, staff moving forward in a strike, but then Bruce’s hand is on his throat and his back hitting the next wall. That seems to become a habit, and Tim doesn’t like it at all.

His blood loss makes itself known by letting Tim’s vision blur. Oh great, just what he needed. But it explains how Bruce suddenly seems so fast to him. It’s just Tim’s brain that can’t keep up anymore.

And wow, from this angle Bruce’s canines look really long, Tim never noticed that before-

Bruce’s hand presses down even more, and suddenly breathing is really difficult. It’s almost like that time back at the cave, but…

That can’t be.

That was just a hallucination due to Tim’s blood loss and the recent trauma of almost dying-

It _can’t_ actually be happening.

"Bruce, let me down," Tim gasps out, panic already creeping into his voice at how familier this all is, the words taking too much precious air from his lungs. His hands raise to clutch Bruce’s arm that’s holding him up, but he can’t get out of the grasp-

Breathing in again is almost impossible with the black gauntleted hand squeezing tighter, and it hurts. The bite wounds are burning again like fire digging under his skin and it’s-

"Bruce!" Tim gasps again, dark spots interfering with his vision, but the mask in front of him remains unchanged, stoic, lips set tight and grim with a hint of sharp teeth peaking out but-

Bruce is not a vampire. What is happening? Is Tim still this shaken up about the vampire attack? He- He didn’t think so, but this can’t be real, can’t actually be-

Is he losing his mind?

"Oh, don’t worry, Tim. This is all very real," Bruce answers the question Tim never said out loud, lips twisting into a wide sadistic smile, long canines glinting in the light. The hand presses down even more and no matter what Tim tries, he can’t get in any more air.

'Stop', he mouthes, unable to talk, vision blurring even more.

He- He can’t breathe. He needs air, so much, his body is screaming at him in agony, he’s _going to die like this_ -

This is all so wrong. Why is he seeing this? Seeing Bruce killing him?

He wants to call for Jason like last time, but speaking is impossible. He chokes, vision almost gone and the vague blur of Bruce’s face and long teeth coming closer-

"Don’t worry, Tim, you won’t die here. You’re doing so well, keeping Jason strong, keeping him in line…"

Tim feels sharp teeth digging into his throat, tearing his flesh.

Screaming without sound, he drops down.

His vision fades to black.

It’s so cold…

Everything is dark and silent, a frightening black haze, but he’s finally alone-

Then something yanks him back.

“ _Tim!_ ”

Jason’s voice. Terrified.

Why does Jason sound so terrified? Is Batman still there? Is he hurting Jason, too?

Tim forces himself to open his eyes.

Jason’s face is right in front of him. He’s… Jason looks so pale. So upset.What… What has _actually_ happened?

"J-Jay…" Tim rasps out, giving up on saying the entire name. His throat hurts and his mind feels sluggish.

"Tim," Jason repeats, pulling Tim even closer. They’re on the floor, Tim notices. Jason’s holding him close, and looks very shaken up. That’s odd, considering Tim is the one who was just attacked by an evil vampire Batman.

"What…?" Tim asks, deciding that sentences with only one syllable are the way to go for now.

Jason seems to understand what Tim means. One hand of his hands starts rubbing Tim’s back, which feels really nice and warm. He starts explaining. “I had a weird feeling, like the time the vampires attacked you, so I came back. You were… You were slumped against the wall, and you weren’t _breathing_ for a few moments. You- You were…”

Tim nods slowly, to show that he’s heard and understood Jason’s words. He’ll have to work out what exactly that means later.

He curls closer to Jason, glad that he’s not alone anymore. And Jason reciprocates, holding Tim so tight it’s almost painful.

Tim can hear Jason’s harsh breathing in his ear, feel the warm puffs against his throat.

But he needs this, right now, needs to feel Jason close to know that he’s still alive. Batman’s not here.

And Jason, all pale and shaken up, probably needs it as well. To know that Tim is breathing _now_.

They stay like that for a long time.

~*~

09:27 am

When Tim wakes up again, he’s lying on his bed. Still holding on to Jason.

The larger man has his arms around Tim, their legs tangled, and it would probably be really weird, but mostly it just feels nice.

"You’re awake," Jason states the obvious, and Tim would complain if it wasn’t for the happiness and relief in those words. Tim thinks he can relate, sort of. The thought of finding Jason, not breathing, makes him shiver.

Jason immediatly pulls him closer at that. “Shh. It’s fine,” he whispers softly.

For a moment Tim thinks Jason is going to kiss him, there’s so much warmth and… _affection_ in those teal eyes.

But nothing happens.

Feeling a bit awkward, Tim pulls away. Jason’s hands linger on his sides for a moment, but then let him go.

"What happened yesterday, Tim?" Jason asks.

Tim sits up, pulling his legs closer to himself. He doesn’t know how to put it in words. What he saw can hardly have been real. “I saw Br- Batman. We had an argument. Then he attacked me. Strangled me.” Hiding the lower half of his face behind his knees he sends an unsure glance towards Jason.

Tim knows how he sounds. Crazy.

Jason looks at him with pity, sadness… Guilt? “I’m sorry,” he mutters, and Tim just… can’t.

"What are you sorry for?" he asks, helpless and feeling ridiculous. It’s _he_ who’s losing his mind. Who’s hallucinating their adoptive father strangling him and almost actually dying from it.

"For leaving you alone. And for pulling you into all of this madness," Jason mumbles. Tim glances at him again, and the vampire looks like he’s serious. As if Jason was to blame for Tim’s shortcomings.

"None of that is your fault," he mutters decisively, then gets up from the bed. It’s cold without Jason’s body against his, and his legs feel a little wobbly, but he’ll deal. They still have a crazy vampire to find.

And then there is what the Bruce in Tim’s mind said to him. About keeping Jason strong. Keeping him in line. Tim doesn’t like it, not at all.

~*~

10:07 am

"I can’t find any trace that Batman was here," Jason says, and Tim feels his world crumble a little bit more.

Sure, he knew that Bruce didn’t strangle him to death, but if he’s never been here at all…

The beginning of their conversation, the argument, it seemed to real. It makes Tim seriously question his sanity.

Jason seems to pick up on Tim’s worry, because he moves into the middle of the couch, softly touching Tim’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. He’s Batman. Chances are he was here and just didn’t leave any clues to it.”

"And what, Jason?" Tim mutters unhappily. "Actually strangled me? Face it. I’m losing it. I’m seeing things that aren’t happening. And this time I almost died from it. Weirdest suicide ever."

"I won’t leave you alone anymore," Jason says, making it sound like a vow.

Tim gives him a questioning glance. “And what is that supposed to accomplish?”

"I’ll keep an eye on you. And on what’s actually happening or not happening. ‘Sides, every time I leave you, you manage to end up half dead." Jason tries for a grin, as if all of this were just a joke. Tim doesn’t feel like joking.

"Stop it, okay?" he mutters. "I can’t even trust my own mind. This is horrible. What if I lose it? What if I panic and see something that isn’t there and order you to kill someone who’s not doing anything?"

Jason opens his mouth as if to protest, but Tim won’t have it. He feels miserable and sick with himself. And what Bruce’s voice said just before he blacket out still haunts him. He doesn’t want this. Doesn’t want Jason to be this worried and fixated on helping Tim even though Tim’s more of a risk than an asset right now.

"Just… don’t, okay?" He lets his head drop back against the couch. "I don’t want you to fuss over me. It’s not helping anyone. If C wasn’t lying to us, you’ll be killed in five days. We need to focus on that. You… _You_ need to focus on that.”

Jason’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean by that, Tim? We’re doing this together, you and me. You’re the one who has to make sure I don’t lose it-“

"Well, isn’t it ironic then that _I’m_ the one losing it?” Tim hisses, starting to get angry. He doesn’t even know why. Jason is just trying to help him. But it’s infuriating. Tim doesn’t need to be coddled. It will only make things worse, can’t Jason see that? “At this rate, I’m going to order you to do something horrible! _I’m_ the problem! If anything, you should be the one with the power to control _me_!”

"Tim, calm down, you’re-"

"I’m _what_ , Jason? Tired? Still weak? I’m well aware. And it’s only getting worse! I’m starting to think Bruce was right when he locked me up. _I’m_ the one who’s going to hurt someone at this rate, I-“

"Don’t say that, Tim, we’ll work this out togethe-"

"No, we’re not! We’re not working out anything! We fell for Blood’s bullshit lies and we found C by chance!" Tim’s shouting by now and working himself into a fit, but he can’t even care anymore. He’s so damn angry at Jason, at himself, at everything else, and he really wants to hurt something. "We’re not getting anywhere! We’ll stay stupid and without information and then you will die and I’ll hopefully end up in Arkham or maybe join the rogue gallery-"

"Tim, calm down!" Jason urges him again, moving even closer and gripping Tim’s shoulders, but Tim doesn’t _want_ to calm down, he wants to burn through this rage because at least it gives him something to do and someone to blame, makes things feel a little less like a bad dream that won’t stop.

"Oh, shut up and shoot yourself, Jason, you have no fucking idea how it feels not to be able to trust your own damn mind!" he shouts, turning away.

Jason is silent. Tim can hear him get up from the couch and walk away. He’s probably hurt. Tim will start feeling sorry when he’s not so furious anymore, and so glad that he finally has his peace-

That wasn’t an _order_ , was it?

He jumps up, running after Jason. The man’s standing in front of the closet where they’re keeping their equipment, gun raised to his own temple, mouth opening wordlessly as he looks at Tim with raw _fear_ in his eyes-

“ _Stop!_ " Tim yells.

The gun clatters to the ground. Jason stumbles back, leaning against the wall, breath heavy.

He seems to be shaking, and Tim notices that so is he.

He almost…

This can’t be real.

All of this, it _can’t_ be-

It has to be a damn _nightmare_ , he wouldn’t actually say something like this-

 _God_. He almost killed Jason. Just because of a few careless words…

He feels like he’s going to throw up.

Jason looks up from the gun and at Tim, eyes still wild and face pale. He looks terrified and like he can’t quite believe what just happened. Maybe he’s finally realizing just how much power Tim really has over him. How horrible that is.

"Tim… _Jesus_. Watch it with the words,” he mutters, voice thin and trembling, face pale. The barely-there humour doesn’t do anything to hide his panic.

"I’m sorry," Tim chokes out, feeling close to tears. "I’m- _God_ , I’m so sorry, Jason, I didn’t mean- I didn’t _think_ -“

Unable to say anything else, Jason just shakes his head.

Tim sucks in a few shallow breaths, feeling like he’s being choked all over again. His body finally reacts, feet running away.

He grabs the packed duffel bag that’s hidden in the closet for emergencies and flees out of the window of his bedroom in a matter of seconds.

Jason’s at least as shaken up about this as he is, he will need some time to figure out Tim bolted.

Tim stops running a few roofs away, sunlight blinding him after all the time in the darkened apartment. He takes a deep shuddering breath, trying to make himself calm down. He needs to-

He doesn’t know what. It doesn’t matter. Most of all he needs to get away from Jason. He can’t risk something like this again.

This is…

It’s too much of a coincidence.

This particular figure of speech. And- Jason’s never reacted to any idioms before. Something is going on. He doesn’t even feel like himself anymore.

Saying just these words, and… For them to work as an order, part of Tim must have meant it. Part of Tim just tried to kill Jason. Tim doesn’t want to believe he has a part like that. But…

He can’t go back. There is something happening to him, and it’s not good. But whatever it is, he won’t risk dragging Jason into it.

He’s going to solve this on his own.


	17. December 17th - The Day Tim Gets Everything He Needs to Follow Into Croesus’ Footsteps (Which, Just for the Record, Would Be a Really Bad Idea)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who are you?" Jason growls, ignoring the hand extended to him in favor of keeping his gun pointed at the strange vampire’s face.
> 
> Elegant lips curve into a smile, showing off white teeth and two pointedly long canines. “That is of no importance. You look so lost. I believe we should talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the promised answers. (But I wrote it at like 4 am and barely had time to look it over, so if anything seems grossly out of place, you should mention it. Or if I forgot to change a "the Tim". What even.)  
> And evil cliffhangers, because writing them is really fun >:D

00:04 am

Tim is gone.

The realization is like ice water, chilling Jason’s entire body to the bone.

Tim is gone. Tim _left_.

Tim left him, Gotham, everything.

Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster. Now he just feels… drained. Empty. What’s the point if Tim is gone?

Jason packed his things and moved back to one of his own safe houses. Up until now he never really realized that they moved in together. He takes his suit and weapons with him, Tim’s laptop and the ugly blanket.

The last thing is… not really needed. He knows that.

He just can’t make himself leave it behind.

He’s searched the entire city looking for Tim. Then hacking into surveillance feeds got him an answer where the young man went to. On a train. Out of Gotham.

It’s… Jason feels so wrong.

What is he going to do without Tim? He just fed, he won’t starve for the next one or two weeks, but… It feels wrong not to have Tim around. Out of place. Everything is out of place.

He fell asleep for maybe half an hour, memories flashing through his dreams, twisting them into nightmares.

Barreling into the safe house, the worst kind of dread clawing his stomach apart. Tim slumped against the wall. White as a sheet and not breathing.

Jason shook him, called his name, was just about to perform CPR when Tim finally sucked in a breath of air. Trembling with relief, Jason pulled him close. Swearing to himself that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt Tim again. Whoever, whatever it was.

He didn’t dare leave Tim’s side after that. After carrying Tim to bed, he fell asleep there with him. Hugging Tim close, feeling the beating of his heart.

And then the other… incident.

It still fills Jason with panic to think about it, just as much as the realization that Tim wasn’t breathing does.

His body moving on its own after he heard Tim’s angry words. Wanting to call out, to make Tim realize what was happening, but unable to, his voice gone.

Cold metal against his temple and his own finger on the trigger, about to pull and make Jason _end his own life_ -

It’s terrifying, how close he was.

If Tim hadn’t realized what he did for just a second longer, Jason would be _dead_ right now.

Just because of a few careless words and simmering anger in Tim’s dark brown eyes.

Jason wonders why he remembers that. Tim’s eyes aren’t brown at all. They looked like another person’s entirely for a short moment, just when Tim yelled at him. It gives Jason a bad feeling. He doesn’t feel like it was just a trick of the light or his brain making things up.

There have been too many strange coincidences lately. Too many hunches and gut feelings and people turning out not to be who they say they are.

Not that he distrusts Tim. Much. It’s all just so very weird right now, Tim was weird, especially yesterday. Was Batman there, at any point in time? Why did Tim pass out, stop breathing and then suddenly snap back to life? And then yelling for Jason ‘to go shoot himself’, it’s not like Tim at all.

On the other hand, Jason spent several hours cuddled close to him yesterday, and that wasn’t strange at all. Tim seemed like himself then, just a little tired and shocked and worn out.

Now that he’s gone, Jason has tried to stop thinking about it too much. There’s not much he can do, anyway, with Tim out of Gotham.

He thought about going to C, trying to find the vampire who’s planning on wiping out his own kind, but what would be the point? If Tim doesn’t decide to come back, Jason’s going to starve anyway.

Whenever Jason thinks of that, the collar around his throat feels too tight. He knows, that’s impossible, the things is nothing more than color. But it still seems to be strangling him. Pulling him into an unknown direction, everywhere and nowhere at once.

Jason even thought about talking to Dick. The first of the former Robins might be annoying at times, but at least he would listen, maybe even help Jason or give him advice. After all, he was the one to free Jason from the chains in the Cave in the first place.

Dick seems to be more on their side than Bruce. But Nightwing is nowhere to be found, no one reports seeing him throughout the entire night. And when Jason checks, it turns out he wasn’t seen last night, either.

Just another occurence to put on the much too long list of things that give Jason a bad feeling and are probably signs of an impending catastrophe.

He doesn’t like any of this. When the sun starts rising again, the first rays grazing Gotham’s roofs, Jason goes back to the… to his _own_ safe house, right.

He feels miserable and pathetic when he drags the orange blanket to his bed, thinking about what it reminds him of and breathing in Tim’s faint scent. But hey, at least he’s a miserable and pathetic vampire with a warm blanket, so that’s something.

He sighs. Who is he kidding? Sleep won’t come to him, no matter how much he forces himself to close his eyes. The bed is wrong, the entire safe house is. This is not where Jason should be, his entire being is sure of that.

He misses Tim. Misses the sound of fast tapping on computer keys, misses the annoying noise of footsteps while he’s trying to think. The smell of doritos no matter how much healthy food he cooks, the brushing of toes under their blanket. The way gray eyes widen and look almost blue when it’s dark outside and only the TV is still on, so different from the image of dark brown orbs glaring at him.

But what is he supposed to do?

Tim left Gotham. And Jason is trapped here, just like every other vampire, waiting to be wiped out in four days.

~*~

10:33 pm

The tiny apartment is dark. Books and paper crammed into shelves, piled up on the floor and strewn over every surface. Every other apartment in the house is empty and dark as well, this appears to be the only one someone lives in.

Without a sound Tim drops to the floor, closing the window behind him. Finding this place wasn’t easy at all, and it feels like a small miracle that he did it at all. Coming here was even more difficult.

But… it will be worth it. At least he hopes so. He needs _answers_ , and there aren’t many people to give them.

Taking a few careful steps forward, he looks around, skimming his surroundings. The apartment is heated, a lot warmer than the freezing outside. So the man he’s looking for should definitely be-

"I see you’ve managed to find me," a voice drawls from what Tim thought was a solid wall.

He spins around, bo staff out, ready to defend himself. He isn’t attacked immediately, but not entirely sure if that’s a good thing or not. “I have a few questions. I would like them answered, honestly this time-“, he starts, voice hitching when he notices that he can’t move anymore.

Jason Blood steps forward from the shadows, smiling slightly. “It’s working, isn’t it?” he aksks, canting his head to the side. “Took me some time to cast that spell. I’m not much of a spellcaster, usually, I tend to stick to the mystical creatures themselves…”

"I’m not here to discuss your sorcery skills," Tim growls, trying to come across as defiant despite his more than vulnerable position. God damn, he hasn’t been here for more than a minute, and things are already so far off from how they were supposed to go.

"No, you’re not," Blood hums, stepping even closer. "You’re here because you’ve noticed that something is wrong with you. Which is the only reason why the spell holding you right now worked in the first place. Now excuse me, this might hurt a little…"

Reaching forward, Blood places his hand on Tim’s forehead. It’s a bit unsettling, being unable to move away from it. Blood murmurs a few words.

Suddenly a searing pain races down Tim’s spine. He can’t sop himself from screaming as Blood drags his hand away, the sensation of molten lead swirling through Tim’s brain. His insides feel like they’re torn out, lungs filled with boiling water-

He chokes, coughing violently, feeling wet blood crawl up his throat. For a few terrifying seconds he can’t breathe, but then he’s coughing it up, painting dark reddish-black spots on the ground.

He slumps down, only half registering he’s able to move again.

"There. Better now?" Blood asks, tone polite, and if Tim’s throat didn’t feel so raw right now, he’d tell Blood exactly how he’s feeling, not sparing a single detail.

"The hell did you do?" he manages to question after a few long minutes of breathing and trying to rid his mouth of the repulsive iron tang.

Blood has the audacity to raise a finger and tut at Tim. “You should really try to find that out on your own, boy.”

"Do I look like a goddamn wizard to you?" Tim growls darkly. His bo hasn’t rolled too far away when he lost the strength to stand. Very slowly he moves his hand towards it. Blood’s brows raise as he watches the obvious movement, and Tim huffs. Apparently, Blood’s not trying to hurt him anymore. But what is the man trying to accomplish, really? "We know you lied to us about a few things. I’d really like to know what’s up with all of this. And with… me."

Blood nods slowly. He lets himself drop down in an old-looking armchair, looking quite comfortable, while Tim chooses to stay on the ground, still feeling awful from whatever Blood just did to him.

Tim raises his brows, taking the staff and placing it on his legs. He’ll fight if he has to. “So…?”

Blood sighs. “You shouldn’t ask. Information is meant to be used. Applied. Traded. It’s not supposed to be given freely.”

"We’re not going to figure it out on our own, if that’s what you mean. We still don’t have a clue what’s going on," Tim mentions dryly, and Blood lets his head drop back, sighing even deeper than before.

"No, you don’t," he mutters in exasperation. "I really hoped you’d figure it out on your own. I had no idea you’d be so dull, so slow-"

"It’s about the December solstice, isn’t it? C isn’t lying. There’s someone going to try to wipe out vampires then."

Blood nods. “Yes. Vampires and quite a few other creatures. Among them, some of my associates.”

"So you want us to stop the guy, too," Tim thinks out loud. "Well, if you want that to happen, I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me."

"Hmm," Blood hums, looking not content with the situation at all. He leans forward a little, looking at Tim with an eerie amount of seriousness. "What do you know about prophecies, boy? Like Croesus and the battle of Pteria."

A bit put off, since this doesn’t have anything to do with their previous topic at all, Tim blinks. He’ll just have to hope that Blood is actually going somewhere with this. “Croesus received a prophecy that if he attacked the Persian Empire and crossed the river Halys, he’d destroy a great empire. Assuming it’d be that of his enemies, he attacked, but it actually was his own that got destroyed in the end.”

"Exactly!" Blood swings his finger at Tim triumphantly, as if this somehow proves all of his points. After a pointedly raised brow from Tim, he elaborates. "This is what happends whenever someone receives knowledge he hasn’t worked for. This is why information isn’t given. Every single prophecy lead to catastrophe, because people can’t handle knowing their future. They misinterpret, they try to avoid it, it’s horrible."

"Are you trying to say," Tim tries to get them back on track, "that this is why you won’t tell me what’s going on? Because we’d fuck up even more if you told us?"

"Finally you understand," Blood nods contently, then sighs. "But I have to, don’t I? You don’t even know what you’re up against. And you only have four days left."

"That would be helpful, yes," Tim mutters. It can’t possibly be that bad if Blood tells him, right? So long as he’s careful not to assume too much or to avoid whatever prophecy Blood’s talking about entirely.

Blood takes a deep breath. “Well then, listen carefully. The man you’re up against, people call him the Mage. As you’ve already heard, he’s trying to rid the world of vampires for good. He has been for some time, but this year he has come across a spell that might actually work out. It requires the magical energies of the December solstice, and most of the vampires should be close since the longe-range efficiency isn’t too good, but assuming that no one stops him, he’s most likely going to succeed.”

"So, what you’re trying to say is that Jason’s going to die if we don’t find him?" Tim’s suspicion is reaffirmed with a nod from Blood. Tim’s hand clenches around his staff. He cannot- he _will not_ let that happen. He takes a deep breath. This is not the time to freak out. “How can we stop him, then?”

"I can’t tell you," Blood replies, "this is the sensible part. The one that could become very catastrophic if you know too much. All I can say is, the bond magic of you and Jason will be needed."

Tim blinks in surprise. “This?” he asks, finger tapping against his clothed chest, right over the hidden marks. “Is that why you tricked us into it?”

"Yes and yes," Blood affirms, his gaze focusing on his own knees and avoiding Tim’s eyes. After all the attention just now, it makes Tim suspicious. "When I cast the spell, I told you it’d adapt and change depending on your relationship with Jason. One of my associates, Madame Xanadu, she has quite a lot of knowledge of the future. So I knew before I cast the spell that you two would grow closer. Back then, you two could hardly stand each other, your trust was fickle and small. But the more you come to like and cherish your bondmate, the stronger the magic of your bond will be… Emotionally triggering events, they will make its power spark. Enough so that it can stop the Mage’s spell."

Tim’s eyes narrow at Blood’s last sentence. He doesn’t like how the man said ‘emotionally triggering events’, lips tightening just a bit as Blood bites back words. Important words Tim is not meant to know, probably. Tim needs to think more over that, so for now… “What about this?” he asks, gesturing to the blood stains he coughed up onto the floor.

"Poisoned blood," Blood explains. "You were hexed. Someone was influencing your behavior, most probably the Mage. It’s one of his specialties. By now he’s most probably learnt of your and Jason’s existence. He must have used this to get you two to split up. This way you can’t stop him."

Tim’s memory flashes back at that. His uncontrolled rage just before he shouted at Jason to ‘shoot himself’, the feeling like it wasn’t really his own… He snapped out of it just seconds later, but it still caused him to decide to leave Jason behind. And then there’s… “What about others? Wouldn’t he be able to control anyone?”

"He can’t control people. Just nudge their behavior into a certain direction," Blood corrects him. Then something almost like a small smile settles on Blood’s lips. "But you deduce fast. In order to influence someone he needs either personal contact or to send someone else he already has a grasp on. Since you never met him, the one to carry the hex to you was most probably…"

"Batman," Tim mutters, his body feeling cold at the realization. "He’s been influencing Batman, maybe all this time, and… Would there be visual signs?"

"The eyes," Blood answers. "Windows to the soul and all that. When his influence is strongest, they tend to change to _his_ color.”

"What about like… sharp teeth?" Tim asks, nervously biting his lower lip. He couldn’t see Bruce’s eyes yesterday because of the mask, but his canines seemed to be longer.

Blood shrugs. “Never heard of those changing. Might have been your imagination. Do you have reason to believe you would imagine something like that?”

Tim nods slowly, not willing to talk about that too much. Stupid vampire attacks, making everything more complicated than it already is. He needs to focus on the important points now.

It’s all a bit much to take in. He should probably head back to Gotham, find Jason and then hope that they can avoid vampire extinction. By using their bond. And their mutual affection. God, it sounds like a fucking romance novel.

But there’s something else Tim’s mind has worked out by now, and Tim likes it even less. He hopes he’s wrong, but the only way to prove or disprove his suspicion is to confront Blood about it directly. “You said the bond’s magic would stop the Mage’s spell.”

"Yes," Blood nods. "It can be a quite a lot of energy that, if released, will disrupt any stronger spells around and stop them."

"In case of an ‘emotionally triggering event," Tim continues.

Blood nods again, lips tightening just the tiniest bit again. He looks a little uncomfortable, almost as if he knows that Tim is on to him.

Tim doesn’t want to be right. But… “One of us is going to die. That’s the event, isn’t it?”

"That’s-", Blood starts, looking like he wants to deny it, but then slumps back. "Yes. That’s what Xanadu predicted will happen."

~*~

11:56 pm

The nice thing about December? It gets dark early. The sky is as black as it’s ever going to get in Gotham, has been for hours now, and the Red Hood is out, reclaiming his territory and spreading fear among those who deserve it.

He doesn’t want to go back inside. He can’t sleep anyway, and it’s lonely and boring without Tim around.

Not to mention how much he misses Tim. But sitting around for six hours straight, staring at a wall and wondering if the young man will ever come back, doesn’t seem like emotionally healthy behavior.

So here Jason is, out and about, kicking ass. Internally despairing because the guy he has a crush on left him, holding back his manly tears of pain like any cool, self-respecting man does.

He jumps over an alley, the faint scent of a person catching his attention, because said person doesn’t smell… edible. At all.

Now, Jason doesn’t want to discriminate against the species he’s newly joined, but ‘single vampire alone in an alley at midnight’ just screams ‘suspcious’ to him.

He drops down into the street, muscles tensing when he realizes that the man is grinning at him, obviously having waited for Jason to notice him. He has a scar across his left temple, the image making Jason’s stomach curl and twist with anger. Tim’s told him that the leader of the vampires that attacked him had a scar like that.

"You’re the fucker who tried to kill Tim," he growls angrily, taking the first step forward when he notices a slight movement in the shadows behind the vampire. Someone else is there.

The vampire snorts, apparently not noticing the third person. “The kid made it? Pity. I would’ve loved to get rid off one of C’s little helper-“

The words get stuck in his throat. All of a sudden, there is the balde of a knife sticking out of the front of his chest.

Jason takes a rapid step backwards, raising his gun in defense. The vampire gurgles, blood spilling out of his mouth and chest, before he drops to the ground. Dead.

The person behind him steps into the light, smearing the dark red blood off on the coat he’s wearing. It’s a man, with a strangely ageless face. Smooth light-brown skin, dark brown hair tousled on his head and a bit of stubble. Jason can’t tell if the guy’s in his twenties or forties, and it’s somehow very unsettling.

The man doesn’t smell edible, either, so he has to be a vampire, too. One that is obviously not the least bit concerned about the other guy he just stabbed.

Once the knife is mostly clean, he slips it into his coat, extending a hand to Jason with an eeriely friendly smile.

"I apologize for that. Employees these days, not the least bit reliable. I made it so clear that he wasn’t allowed to kill your loved one, but now this… Anyway. It is good to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" Jason growls, ignoring the hand extended to him in favor of keeping his gun pointed at the strange vampire’s face.

Elegant lips curve into a smile, showing off white teeth and two pointedly long canines. “That is of no importance. You look so lost. I believe we should talk.”

Jason sort of feels like telling the vampire to fuck off, he’s not quite this crazy yet, there is a fucking corpse lying on the ground between them… But something about the man is oddly calming. He slowly lowers his gun and pushes it back into the holster.

"There, that’s better, isn’t it?" The man smiles. He has a nice smile, with dimples, Jason notices. The man takes Jason’s hand and pulls him deeper into the shadows. "Follow me. I would like to show you something."

Now, Jason’s not in the habit of following strange vampires into dark alleys. But he can’t help but nod along. This man, some part of Jason feels like he should be wary, but mostly he just has a feeling that everything will be alright if he listens.

Maybe it’s because of how he’s getting lost in those dark brown, chestnut-colored eyes that seem so oddly familiar.


	18. December 18th - The Day of the Heartbreaking Supervillain Origin Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And those _eyes_. They’re beautiful. Getting lost in them is so easy. Jason swears they’re the most gorgeous thing he’s ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing at 1 am, so this is a rush job and sort of not as good as I wanted it to be. I apologize. My break starts tomorrow, so then you'll have nice long chapters again. And I'll probably rewrite this one and then tell you once I've updated it in the notes. For now I just really want to stay on schedule.  
> Or we could all just blame the worse writing on Jason's mind not being as clear and his own as usual?

00:36 am

Jason is pretty sure there’s something up with the handsome stranger who lead him to his secret lair. Which happens to be in old, abandoned factory building, apparently.

So… yes. He kind of _could_ have sensed that something’s not right here _way_ earlier. Like, when he followed the mysterious vampire through dark alleys, for example. Just after said vampire stabbed someone right in front of Jason.

But life would be boring then, wouldn’t it?

Besides, Jason just can’t say no to Mr. Mysterious. And he means that quite literally. There is a very thin layer of suspicion at the outer edge of his mind, but as soon as the man opens his mouth, Jason automatically finds himself agreeing to him.

It’s enough to make Jason’s faint suspicion grow, but it’s nowhere near _powerful_ enough for him to act on it.

So he follows the mysterious man into the old factory building. The inside sort of reminds him of C’s motel room. Runes and signs are written everywhere, in paths and directions that make no sense to him. Various objects Jason can’t classify at all are littering the ground, and in the middle of it all, a huge circle is drawn onto the ground.

There’s energy crackling in the air, making the hairs at the back of Jason’s neck stand up. Something in this place is powerful in a way he can’t describe. All he knows is that it’s here.

"Home, sweet home," the vampire hums next to him, startling Jason enough to look over at the man. Immediately he gets lost in chestnut-brown eyes again. It’s a little scary, but mostly very distracting.

"You still haven’t told me your name," Jason realizes. And he’d really like to know what to call this handsome stranger…

The vampire shakes his head. “Names aren’t really my thing, I’m afraid. People tend to call me the Mage. I’m sure you can work with that. What’s yours?”

"Red Hood," Jason states blankly. For just a second, his actual name is on the tip of his tongue, but then reason kicks in enough to stop him from saying it.

"Oh. But I’d really like to know your name…", the man trails off, giving Jason a sad glance.

It’s a bit embarrassing how Jason’s resolve crumbles under those soft eyes instantly. “Jason,” he blurts out, taking off his mask. The thing doesn’t do anything anyway, no one’s going to not recognize him just because of a bit of red around his eyes.

"That’s a nice name," the Mage hums, smiling at Jason, which causes Jason’s brain to melt out of his ears. Not literally, Jason guesses, but he wouldn’t mind as long as he can get another smile like that.

And those _eyes_. They’re beautiful. Getting lost in them is so easy. Jason swears they’re the most gorgeous thing he’s ever seen.

He blinks, a little confused as a different image flashes through his thoughts, of gray-blue with dark shadows beneath. He shakes this head to clear his mind.

"Anything wrong?" Mage asks, and Jason feels the strong urge to smile and assure the man that no, of course there isn’t, but…

Something _is_ wrong. And Jason’s pretty sure it has something to do with the stunning vampire in front of him.

"I…", he starts, feeling a bit helpless. His brain hurts. Wincing, he presses his palms against his temples. Pretty brown orbs and a soft lulling voice are clouding his thoughts, but with a sudden jolt, Jason’s collar makes itself known, sending a shock through his body.

He has no business listening to this man. He belongs to someone else.

"You’re controlling me," Jason realizes. It’s meant to be an accusation, somewhere, but he still has the overwhelming urge to be civil, so his voice comes out careful and polite. Most of him is pretty sure that being controlled is not at all something to be upset over.

Mage tips his head slightly to the side. His lips are pulling into a pout and that movement is very… distracting. “You already noticed that? Has to be the bond. Really should have thought of that…”

"You’re not even denying it?" Jason asks incredulously.

"Mh-mmh", the vampire hums, shaking his head. "I do it so much, it’s mostly involuntary at this point. And I’m not controlling you, by the way. It’s just like, strong suggestions."

"And what do you plan on suggesting?" Jason wants to know, automatically censoring his language because he’d hate to upset this handsome man. Seems like he’s not completely free of the ‘suggestion’ yet, the reasonable part of his mind notes. He needs to be really careful with this guy.

Mage gives him a warm smile that makes Jason’s heartbeat stutter violently and his cheeks flush hot. “Why, for us to work together, of course.”

The distant pull around his throat and the fuzzy memory of a slim body curled up against his chest are the only reasons why he doesn’t immediately agree that anything, _anything_ the Mage wants is fine. “Why would I do that?” he forces out.

The vampire smiles again, but this time it turns melancholic, a deep sadness shimmering in his eyes. It makes him look even more beautiful, Jason thinks. “Because you and I, we’re the same.”

"Explain," Jason grits out, curling his hands into fists and digging his nails into his palms harshly. It’s barely enough to keep him focused on the actual content of their conversation and not be swept away by the desire to please the man in front of him.

"I want to cleanse this world of vampires. If you allow me to use the magic stored in your bond mark, that would be a great help. Even though it’s just a fragment of the magic it has combined with your master, it’s still a lot of energy," the Mage explains calmly.

The words sound so reasonable, Jason has to fight hard to stop himself from nodding along. He digs his nails in deeper. “Why would I do that? It would mean the end for me. And… for you, too. You’re a vampire as well.”

How comes he’s only realizing this now? It’s a pretty damn important point. Unless Jason has overlooked something vital here, the Mage’s plan is suicidal. In a very literal way.

Mage nods again, his eyes getting the same teary shimmer they had before. “It might take you some more time to realize this, but vampires, _we_ , are terrible, cruel creatures. We hurt and take and injure and kill. One day, you will lose control at the wrong moment, and it will hurt someone you love. But by then it will be too late. We can stop this… all of this madness and murder forever.”

"What are you talking about? When I lose control, I have the bond," Jason objects, thumb tracing the black marks. It sends a tingling sensation down his spine, and somehow makes his senses sharper, less clouded by the other vampire.

Who is shaking his head at Jason sadly, as if he were a child that can’t see how their life will be when they’re grown up. “Since when have you been a vampire now, Jason? Two weeks? Three? How many times has your loved one gotten hurt during this time? The boy you accepted as your master, I saw him. All those injuries and wounds and bandages. How much of it is because he’s involved with you? How much did _you_ do to him yourself?”

Jason recoils at the thought. This is… It’s one of his biggest fears ever since the change. Since he started caring about Tim. “He has the bond. He can stop me,” he argues, but it’s a weak defense.

After all, Jason’s no idiot. Since all of this vampire insanity started, Tim’s almost died. He had blood loss, stopped breathing, maybe hallucinations, and trauma on top of it all. And Jason’s seen the bruises and scars he left on Tim’s throat. He doesn’t think of Tim as weak, but every time he bit him, the younger man was completely out of it and half asleep afterwards.

If Jason were to actually lose control during a bite… he could easily kill Tim. So easily.

Some of this thoughts must have shown on his face, because the Mage speaks again. “You realize it, don’t you? How dangerous you are for him. How much did he have to endure over these past two weeks? What do you think how bad it will get if you keep this up for _years_?”

Shaking his head, Jason bites his lower lip. He’s confused and worried and can’t even tell if Mage is influencing him much or not at all. “I don’t want to hurt him,” he whispers. “But…”

"I’m not playing around, Jason," Mage says softly. "Doing this will be _my_ end as well. I’m offering you a chance here, one I didn’t have. I wanted to believe that my love would be stronger than the vampire’s ferocity, too.”

Jason’s eyes widenas he gets what the Mage is implying. He blames it on the overall difficult conditions for his reasonable thinking right now. “What was their name?” he asks, his voice slipping to gentle and careful without conscious thought.

"… Sevilay," the Mage whispers quietly, eyes shining with held back tears. "Her name was Sevilay."

"What happened?" Jason almost doesn’t dare to ask, his voice barely audible. This isn’t about the Mage maybe or maybe not controlling him, and plotting vampire extinction. It’s about someone who lost the love of their life, and imagining himself in that situation is a truly terrifying thought.

"I killed her," the Mage murmurs. "I… We had enemies. So many attacks on us, we had to split up. By the time we found each other again, it had been three weeks since I last fed. I was about to starve, so she offered me to take her blood. I… I lost control."

"I’m… sorry to hear that," Jason says carefully, not really sure how else to express how deeply he feels the vampire’s grief. Just imagining the same scenario with himself and Tim… Jason shudders.

"I’ll never forget how frightened she looked as she died in my arms," Mage whispers, and Jason’s not sure if the man is talking to him or to himself. Then amazingly brown eyes fix on him again. "And that is why we need to rid this world of vampires. We’re… All of us are uncontrolled. We’ll kill everyone trying to help us. You will kill the man you love. You don’t want that to happen, do you?"

Jason is pretty sure that it’s not the Mage’s suggestive powers that make him shake his head. “I don’t. But what do you want me to do? I don’t plan on dying.” Not that he has any choice if Tim doesn’t come back, he thinks bitterly.

"What are you going to do, then?" the vampire asks him, earnest eyes blinking at him. The light is doing the most amazing things to the iris, various shades of brown, chocolate, chestnut and amber glinting at Jason and swirling through his mind. "Bite random people on the streets? Someone’s going to put you down. And let me tell you, it’s a lot harder to stop feeding if you don’t care about the person."

"You think I’m going to kill people if I keep living?" Jason asks, not sure if he wants to hear the answer. He’s afraid he already knows it.

"For sure. You’re lucky if your loved one doesn’t become one of your victims," the Mage tells him, voice sure and serious. There’s a very enticing speckle of gold flickering next to the black slitted pupil as he looks at Jason. "If you help me, you will die. But you will save a lot of lives. And your beloved will live on, with another chance at love."

Jason bites down the bitter comment that Tim doesn’t even love him back. It’s not what counts here. What counts is that, suggestive mind-powers or not, the Mage has a point. One that Jason can hardly object to.

He swallows hard. It’s… like this at least Tim will be free again. From the responsibility, the bond, the bites, all of this madness.

"Okay. I’ll… I’ll help you."

The Mage’s lips pull into a wide, happy smile, making Jason’s cheeks feel hot again. Jesus, this better be part of the suggestive powers. The vampire steps closer, tracing a hand down the side of Jason’s face. It feels very intimate, somehow, and Jason’s not really sure if he likes or dislikes it. “Thank you, Jason.” The vampire’s soft voice makes it even worse. God.

"I’m not doing this for you," Jason mutters, averting his gaze. Mage seems to get what he means, of course he does with how similar they are, and pulls his hand back. The tips of his fingers just barely graze the edge of Jason’s collar marks.

And suddenly Jason’s world explodes in color.

~*~

Tim’s legs almost give out under him at the sudden shock. The mark is _burning_ on his chest, pulling at his flesh painfully.

 _Jason_.

Something, something is-

Tim bites down a whimper, then forces himself to take a deep breath.

His heartbeat is suddenly completely out of control and his mind a mess. From one seond to the next, he knows for certain…

Something is terribly wrong.

He needs to get to Jason _now_.


	19. December 19th - The Day the Least Expected Person Turns Out to Be a Really Big Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yeah yeah," he mutters, turning away from the bright lights, which makes the headache he’s starting to have a bit better. "I’ll just eat a little something and then help you wipe out our own species, yeah?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a bit longer again, but late. It’s not even the 19th anymore where I live. Oops. Sorry. Tomorrow’s busy because I’m going back home to my family, but I hope I’ll be able to write and upload a bit earlier.  
> Please, take a look at the title first, guess who it’s going to be, and then see if you were right! =)

02:34 am

Jason groans. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet, so he doesn’t know where he is, but he’s already pretty sure he doesn’t like it.

His body hurts, and he’s lying on what feels like a hard mattress. Without a blanket, so it’s cold as fuck. No surprise. It’s fucking December. Whoever put him here without a blanket better have a damn good reason.

Slowly he blinks, opening one eye. His throat is burning, not only from thirst, but also the skin on the outside. He wonders how long he was out. And why. He can’t quite remember, everything from before is fuzzy…

Stretching out, Jason opens his eyes fully and looks around. He’s in a small room without light. It’s so dark that without his new abilities he wouldn’t be able to see anything. What he’s lying on is indeed a ratty old mattress. Hard and complete with springs that are digging into his side. Jason has a feeling he will have to complain to someone about this. On the other hand, it’s a better place to sleep on than the dirty ground…

His stomach grumbles, so Jason decides to get up and look around. The Mage should be somewhere around here, that much is clear in his memory. The wall and ground look a lot like the huge room in the old factory building. He guesses that this has to be one of the smaller rooms.

The door is closed, but not locked. Not feeling the need to be quiet, since whoever brought him to the mattress didn’t lock him in, Jason makes his way down the hallway. There is more light at the end of it, and Jason has to shield his eyes for a moment. The movement makes the collar of his shirt brush against his throat, and Jason has to bite down a hiss at the burning sensation caused by that.

Stepping into the large room is a bit overwhelming. There’s a wave of memories flooding his brain, disorienting him a little.

"Oh, you’ve finally woken up. That’s good," the Mage’s warm voice says from next to him, startling Jason because he didn’t hear the vampire approach him at all.

"Yeah, guess so. You have some food around here?" he asks.

Mage chuckles a bit and grins, which makes Jason feel a little dizzy. In a good way, he guesses. “Of course I do. Back down the hallway, third door to the right. Are you feeling alright? You just suddenly passed out.”

Jason nods. It makes his head swim even more, but that’s just what happens after being out for a long time. “I’m fine.”

"That’s good. Tell me if you feel weird," the Mage beams at him with another blinding smile. Jason wonders if the guy is just that friendly or if it’s one of his usual methods to control people. At least _he_ isn’t influenced. As the Mage said, his bond prevents that.

"Yeah yeah," he mutters, turning away from the bright lights, which makes the headache he’s starting to have a bit better. "I’ll just eat a little something and then help you wipe out our own species, yeah?"

"Sure, you do that!" the Mage’s laughing voice calls from behind him.

~*~

06:17 pm

Tim’s brow is twitching. So is his finger. Might be annoyance. Might be lack of sleep. Might be both. He really doesn’t care anymore at this point.

It’s been more than one and a half days now since he suddenly got the overwhelming feeling that something is really not okay with Jason.

And guess who has disappeared without any trace whatsoever?

That’s right. Jason Todd. Elusive vampire extraordinaire.

If he’s hiding on purpose, Tim is going to punch his fucking face so hard. Shouting something like “I was worried for you, you jerk!” because Jason deserves that. The punch, that is, not Tim’s worry.

If only he could _find_ Jason.

Their… His safe house is abandoned. Jason isn’t there, and neither are Tim’s notes and laptop. He’d be worried that Batman somehow got Jason, after all the man seems to know where the safe house is now, if it wasn’t for the orange blanket being missing as well.

That… Tim is not completely sure what that means. But no one but Jason would take the blanket, right? The thing is hideous. The only value it has is emotional.

Jesus fuck. Tim has emotional attachment to a _blanket_. And so has his vampire vigilante partner. He can’t believe he thought his life was weird before.

At least this means Jason took the blanket with him when he left for… somewhere else. So Tim has reason to hope that Jason left voluntarily and wasn’t abducted.

Maybe he’s just pissed at Tim for suddenly leaving without a word. Tim could understand that. Though it really wasn’t his fault, his behaviour was influenced by an evil magic-using vampire. He thinks he should be forgiven for that.

And he really needs to talk to Jason. He got Blood to tell him what exactly Madame Xanadu saw, and it’s-

Tim is not going to let it happen. Fuck Croesus. He won’t let Jason die.

So now he only has to find Jason. Which is difficult. As in, not happening. And it only makes Tim’s dread worse.

The bond mark surely wouldn’t react to just anything? Up until now, it was only Jason knowing when Tim was in trouble. This time it’s the other way around, and it’s driving Tim crazy.

He hasn’t slept ever since the mark started burning, almost seeming to drag him back to Gotham. It’s only gotten worse today.

And he can’t. Fucking. Find. Jason.

He’s tried everything. Even letting the mark guide him, but that thing has no sense of direction at all. So much for magic.

How is he supposed to find his… partner? He doesn’t even know where the vampire went.

Tim groans again, slumping back against a wall. He has a headache and his eyes are burning. Maybe some sleep would make everything a bit clearer, but he can’t risk that, and he can’t get any peace knowing that Jason might be in trouble.

… Wait. _That’s it_.

If Tim’s bond mark is not broken somehow, that means Jason is _in trouble_. There aren’t many things that are actually dangerous to the feared vampire vigilante Red Hood. And thanks to Xanadu’s vision, he even knows what’s going to kill Jason. So there really is only one option where Jason could be, _who_ he could be _with_.

All Tim has to do in order to find him is get there, too. And he already has an idea for that… It’s a bit of a gamble, an insanely huge gamble, actually. But there is no way in hell Tim won’t risk it if it means finding Jason again.

~*~

09:03 pm

"…Batman on the corner of Carlston and Keenes…", the slightly distorted voice from a police feed cracks in Red Robin’s ear. He grins. Finally Batman is out. That’s what he was waiting for.

He set everything up. If nothing goes wrong - which is a very big if and probably not going to happen, but there’s always hope - he should be able to get all the information he needs before catastrophe ensues.

His motorcycle his humming under him. Now, first of all…

Tim presses the shiny red button on his remote. Ah. Shiny red buttons. They make everything feel so important.

His line to the police confirms that the explosives he set up did their job.

Tim’s old safe house, the one where Batman ambushed him, should now be a burning, smoking pile of debris and rubble. Batman is at the other end of Gotham, no doubt going to be alerted to the fact that the current hideout of Red Robin, evil mastermind, and Red Hood, evil vampire, has just been blown to pieces. That, of course, will warrant an immediate investigation.

And it will also ensure that he won’t notice that someone’s breaking into the Cave and hijacking the computer for at least twenty minutes. And that’s more than enough time for Red Robin to find out what he needs. Or at least he hopes so.

The alarms are deactivated quickly, and the Cave is thankfully empty. Alfred is probably off somewhere, doing who knows what, but Tim doesn’t think the old butler would be a problem, should he happen to find Tim.

The one who might become one is Dick, depending on what he thinks of Tim and Jason right now. But Nightwing hasn’t been spotted for four nights now. Tim has a bad feeling about it. What if something happened to Dick?

That, however, is not his main concern right now. He’ll start looking for Dick once he’s made sure that Jason won’t die as predicted.

Hacking the bat-computer takes a bit longer than Tim anticipated. Damn Bruce for actually changing the emergency codes. At least the Batman is meticulous enough to still keep logs on when and where he went, who he ambushed, surveilled or left fot the GCPD to find.

At this point, Tim is sure that the Mage has been influencing Bruce’s behavior. And in order to do that, Bruce must have had contact with the vampire himself. So there has to be something in the records, between when Jason was bitten on the 1st and when Bruce first ambushed them with distrust on the 10th. A gap, a place where Bruce stayed despite not doing anything, maybe even a suspicious person matching the vague description of the Mage that Tim got from Blood-

There isn’t anything at all.

Tim bangs his hands against the console, goes through the records again.

God _fucking_ damnit. He want to scream, to shout, to cry-

There has to be _something_. But there just isn’t. Fucking _hell_.

What is he supposed to do? This was his best shot at finding the Mage’s hideout. Bruce is only influenced, not controlled, so letting himself get caught and brought there isn’t an option. And Red Robin has already been in here vor sixteen minutes now, Bruce will find out soon that no one has been at the safe house and will then see through the ruse. That is, if the computer hasn’t already alerted him-

Fuck. _Fuck_.

Tim needs to get out of here, but he also has to find Jason-

He really feels like crying. But that’s not going to help him, either.

"Master Tim," Alfred’s voice comes from somewhere behind him and Red Robin whirls around in the chair.

God. Now he doesn’t even notice Alfred anymore. Maybe not getting more than a nap in fifty hours wasn’t a smart thing to do after all. He’ll think about that once he’s made it through this crisis.

"Alfred," he greets back, focusing on not letting his voice shake. "Good to see you."

If Alfred goes all mind-influenced ninja on him now and tries to pin Tim down as the bad guy, Tim _will_ lose it. But the old man just gives him a tired smile.

"It is good to see you, too, Master Tim. I was quite worried for you. Master Bruce has not been himself when it comes to matters concerning you lately."

"Yeah, I know. There’s an evil vampire mage nudging his thoughts into the wrong direction," Tim mutters unhappily, scrolling through the logs again.

Alfred comes up next to him, giving Tim a slightly puzzled look. “Is that sarcasm or is there actually-“

"There actually is," Tim sighs and falls back against the backrest. Nothing. There is _nothing_. Every single minute of Bruce’s nights accounted for. “And I want to help him, but first I need to find that vampire-“

He stops. Blinks slowly. Alfred is here. _Alfred_ probably knows something. God, he’s never going to do this fifty-hours-without-sleep thing again, it really makes him slow.

Pulling up the logs again, he points at the screen. “There, take a look. Is there anything out of place? Anything that didn’t happen that way? Bruce must have encountered the vampire at one point personally.”

Alfred tips his head to the side, eyes moving as he skims over the texts. Tim already wants to give up when the old man doesn’t point out anything. And it’s already been almost nineteen minutes, he should be long out of here-

"There," Alfred says, and Tim’s eyes immediately snap to the line of text he’s pointing at. The evening of the 8th of December, one of the nights when Bruce went out later than on others. It’s the one when the police spotted Red Hood and Red Robin as "vampires" taking down to muggers, on top of that.

"Yes?" Tim asks, feeling a bit breathless. He needs to go, like, ten minutes ago, but this is exactly the information he needs.

"I believe," Alfred starts, "that on this particular evening Master Bruce went out earlier. He was out for maybe an hour before he came back and heard the police line spot you and Master Jason."

"Where was he, Alfred?" Tim asks, getting up from the chair and hurrying over to his motorcycle. As soon as he has a name, he will have to race out of here and hope like hell that Bruce’s brain is working as slow as his tonight, and that the Batman actually needs longer than five minutes to find out that a suddenly exploding, previously empty building was just a distraction.

"At the docks in the sout-east, I believe, to stop a weapons shipment," Alfred says. Tim can see a soft smile on the man’s lips, almost like he’s hoping that Tim will fix things somehow. Fix Bruce.

Well, he’ll try. If the Mage actually abducted Jason and is influencing Bruce, then that guy is going to get to know Tim’s unpleasant side.

"Thank you, Alfred! You’re a lifesaver!", he calls out, jumping onto his motorcycle and revving it up. He has pushed his luck enough for tonight, no need to do it even more.

As soon as he’s at the first crossing road, he sends a thankful prayer to the heavens. There’s the faint flicker of headlights in the distance, illuminating the fog that’s hanging in the air, and there aren’t many cars driving this way in the middle of the night.

Tim swerves to the side, into the woods, and powers off his motorcycle. He waits with baited breath as the batmobile drives by, going at an insane speed. By the time it’s past him and out of sight, oxygen is much needed, but at least…

At least Tim did it. He actually knows where to look now.

~*~

11:34 pm

The Mage is insane. Very handsome, but definitely insane, Jason thinks to himself while he’s helping the other vampire. Not that there’s much work left to do. The entire room - and it’s a really big room, so this is a really big accomplishment - is scribbled full of runes. The damn things are everywhere. Jason has been forbidden from walking around too much because he just might have stepped into one or two of the things.

All he was allowed to do was dragging a huge jewel into the middle of the empty circle at the center of the room.

He has never seen any stone like this one, he as to admit. It’s a dark hue of purple with lilac swirls, and hundreds of shiny bright lights woven into it. It’s almost looks like a piece of the night sky itself.

Not that Jason’s about to get poetic over a stone or anything. Not even this particularly pretty one. What he can say about it, however, is that this is definitely the “powerful magical artifact” Blood has been going on about when he told them what drew the vampires to Gotham.

Touching the stone is electrifying. It makes Jason’s skin prickle and his muscles twitch and overwhelms his senses in a slightly frightening way. He feels really respectless when he puts the gem down into a huge flower pot in the circle. But otherwise the thing is going to fall over, so what else is he supposed to do?

He sort of wants to show it to Tim. Tim would love this stone. He’d probably go a little crazy with all the experiments he could conduct, all the science involved to make the gem have such bright spots, while still looking purplish-black.

Jason sighs quietly. He still misses Tim. Like. Really, really much. It’s a bit better now than in the beginning, after the shock wore off and he really realized that Tim had hightailed it out of Gotham and left Jason behind, knowing full well that as a vampire he wasn’t able to follow.

But now, after some time, he’s starting to get over it.

He better be. Jason isn’t particularly keen on ending up as sad and heartbroken over losing his “one true love” as the Mage is. Not that he’ll have to live with it much longer, he thinks bitterly.

Still. Heroically ridding the world of evil blood-sucking monsters is definitely a better way to go out than to become one himself and be slain one day. Maybe killing someone he cares about first.

Jason doesn’t want that. Like this he is at least still _himself_.

He dusts some dirt of the side of the stone. Magical night sky gem with mud on it is just not something his eyes can bear. Then he leaves the huge room where the Mage is still busy scribbling down signs. Apparently that’s necessary now that Jason’s bond magic will be involved in the spell.

He walks down the hallway, not yet sure if he should get soemthing to eat from the kitchen - not that the instant soup the Mage is storing there can really be called ‘food’ - or just head straight back to what he’s dubbed “his room”.

The question turns out to be a void one, as he’s suddenly pulled into the second door on his right.

He moves on reflex, twisting the attacker’s arm around and pushing him up against a wall, Jason’s hand going to the person’ss throat. Who the hell dares to attack him here of all-

His attacker gives a yelp and Jason releases him instantly, taking a step back. This can’t be-

“ _Tim?_ " he asks incredulously. His eyes finally adjust to the dark room, and… Wow. That really _is_ Red Robin there, right in front of him.

Oh, fuck. Does that mean he’s hallucinating now? He knows he has it bad for Tim, but he didn’t think it would be quite this critical-

"I am mildly concerned that you recognize that from _strangling me_ ,” Red Robin hisses, lips twitching up in a faint smile. The smaller man rubs his throat, rolling his head twice, his gaze fixed on Jason the entire time. Then. “Are you alright?”

Jason wants to say so many things to that. Everything from “I missed you” to “Why did you leave?” and “Are you mad at me?” and “Even _your_ soup was better than this guy’s” and “I’m so glad you’re back”, but he never gets a chance to say it.

Even with his enhanced reflexes he can’t do anything as a flash of black and blue dashes into the room, the end of an escrima flickering with electricity suddenly digging into Red Robin’s side. Tim’s mouth opens in a silent scream of pain, before the young man crumbles to his knees and slumps over to the side.

Only now, much too late, Jason is able to move. He steps forward to get to Tim, but is stopped by Nightwing. “Dick! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” he hisses, a bit out of his mind with anger and panic. If Dick doesn’t get out of his way right this second, he swears to hell he’s going to take Nightwing out with force.

"You can’t get near him right now, Jason," Dick says, voice urgent and insistent enough to actually make Jason step back again and listen. Dick looks sad and a bit torn up by what’s going on, so there has to be something to what he’s saying, right?

Dick swallows, carefully stepping over Tim’s unmoving body and checking him for injuries. Jason’s hands curl with the urge to get over there and make sure Tim is alright himself, but Dick is already holding up a hand to stop him.

"Don’t," he says again. "There’s something… Someone did something to him. Possibly Blood or C. As your master, he can be really dangerous for you. I’ll bring him to the Mage, he can help Tim."

Jason takes another step back and nods, tension leaving his body slowly. He doesn’t particularly like it, but Dick is right.

Of course the Mage will be able to help Tim. And then everything will be alright, somehow.


	20. December 20th - The Day Tim Stages Yet Another Breathtaking Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all, the Mage is capable of a lot of magic as well.
> 
> Unfortunately, Tim isn’t. He has no idea how to go about fixing magical collar tattoos. He really hopes he’ll figure it out in the next few seconds, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, late again. Mabye tomorrow I’ll be on time again? In case I overlooked any major flaws or mistakes, feel free to point them out. It’s 4:30 am right now, Imy foreign language skills aren’t at their best right now.  
> Everyone already looking forward to the December Solstice tomorrow?

00:00 am

Tim is only barely hanging on to consciousness. His body hurts. It’s as if he can still feel the electricity running through him. His vision is dark and blurry, big black spots making it almost impossible to make out anything at all. And his hearing isn’t okay, either. All he can pick up are faint, mumbled words.

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

He chose to wear a particularly well-insulated suit, which is good, because while it kept him from just painlessly passing out, at least he’s still aware of the things going on around him. A little bit.

He can hear Jason’s voice, very quiet, very far away. It makes him calm down. As long as Jason is here, he’s not really in danger, right?

Yeah. Nice little thought. If he wasn’t in so much pain right now, he’d sigh deeply.

But if Jason is here, that means the Mage somehow got to him. Tim even thinks he saw a bit of brown and black flash in Jason’s irises before. The same goes for Nightwing, or at least Tim can’t think of any other reason why Dick would suddenly attack him.

His senses are coming back and less overwhelmed with pain, so Tim tries harder to focus on his surroundings.

Jason is influenced. Dick and Bruce, too. Everyone else has been sent out of Gotham by an overly paranoid Batman. If Tim doesn’t manage to somehow get himself out of this, they’re all in really, really big trouble.

Dick’s and Jason’s voices are getting clearer, and if Tim isn’t completely mistaken, they’re currently agreeing on getting him to the Mage, to get him “help”. Tim is pretty sure that that would be bad for him. And for his independent thinking.

He keeps his eyes closed and body limp. He should be able to move, or at least he hopes so. Dick didn’t hit him too hard with the escrima, and Tim has never been this grateful that the Mage can only influence people and not completely control them.

He has no idea what that vampire did to Dick to make him attack Tim. And he has no idea what the Mage did to Jason, but Jason’s collar doesn’t… It doesn’t _feel_ right anymore, so he probably did something to it. After all, the Mage is capable of a lot of magic as well.

Unfortunately, Tim isn’t. He has no idea how to go about fixing magical collar tattoos. He really hopes he’ll figure it out in the next few seconds, though.

Tim can feel Nightwing’s gauntleted hands on him, resting against the side of his throat to check his pulse, which means that he has to be close by and probably leaning over Tim.

With a silent prayer that his limbs won’t betray him now, he snaps his eyes open, curling into a ball and pulling his knees up to his chest at the same time. Dick looks startled at the movement, begins to draw back, but Tim is faster.

He wraps his legs around Dick’s throat, pulling his own upper body up while pushing the palm of his hand against Dick’s temple, just hard enough to knock the older man out without causing any serious damage.

Tim’s muscles scream at him from the strain, his vision blurring again and is stomach revolting, but at least Dick’s body drops down limp on top of him. Breathing heavily, Tim slumps back down onto the ground.

Okay. One down. Hopefully no one more to go.

He can definitely not pull another move like this, assuming he doesn’t black out in the next few minutes anyway. But it’s a start.

He turns his head, ignoring the protests of his body, to look at Jason. The vampire has backed up, fists clenched in a fighting position, and he’s giving Tim a look that makes it clear he considers Tim to be the enemy here.

Odd. What exactly did Tim miss while he was out of it? He carefully lays Dick down on the ground next to him before he stands up, wobbling slightly. He raises his hands, trying to look placating.

"What the hell, Tim?" Jason asks warily, gaze flickering to Nightwing’s unconscious form for just a split second.

Tim takes a deep breath, forcing himself to sound calming in order to somehow get through to Jason. And to stop his legs from giving out under him. “Jason. Calm down. Everything’s okay. I just… We need to get out of here. If the Mage finds us, we’ll be in big trouble-“

"Tim, stay where you are," Jason starts talking, voice getting the same ‘don’t upset the deluded person’ sound Tim’s has, causing him to blink under his mask. "You’re… Something’s wrong with you. You just attacked Dick."

"Dick attacked me first," Tim gives back, raising one brow. Alright. This is weird. So they’re both thinking that _they’re_ the one who's right and that the other one’s not thinking clearly.

Stupid magic fucking everything up.

But Tim is pretty sure that in this case, it’s _actually_ him who’s not somehow influenced. So he has to make Jason snap out of whatever weird thing the Mage did to him. And fast, too, because if that vampire appears now, Tim will not be able to defend himself. Not at all. “Jason, please listen to me. _You’re_ the one who’s being influenced. The Mage can do that to people.”

"I know he can, but not to me. The bond prevents that. But Blood did something to you, Tim, you have to-"

Tim sort of really wants to scream with how frustrating this conversation is already. If he wants to solve this, fast, he’ll have to play dirty. “Jason. _You_ are the one of us who teamed up with a mind-controlling vampire. Which was a really fucking stupid decision, just for the record, because in case you haven’t noticed-“

"Haven’t noticed _what_ , Tim?! You _left_ me! I didn’t even know if you were going to come back. I couldn’t risk losing control one day, so helping the Mage kill all vampires was the most reasonable thing to do!” Jason hisses, and Tim recoils a little at that, because…

Him leaving Gotham might have been due to the Mage’s influence, but he really didn’t think that Jason would start planning suicide after that. “Please, Jason. I’m back now. You don’t have to do that anymore-“

Tim takes a careful step forward, but his body isn’t up for that kind of thing anymore, and his legs buckle under him. He adds a groan for good measure, feeling only a litle guilty for using this trick to make Jason worry over him. At least it’s not all acting. That has to count for something, right?

Just as hoped, Jason’s attitude immediately shifts from ‘distrustful’ to ‘concerned’, and before Tim has even really noticed it, he’s already pulled against a wide, warm chest.

For just a second, he’s actually considering to let go. Close his eyes, get some rest, enjoy being so close to Jason. But that would potentially lead to both of them becoming puppets of an evil vampire mage, so he pulls himself together.

"Tim? Tim, are you okay?" he can hear Jason’s worried voice, words blurring together a little because Tim is really not physically up to this anymore.

He weakly curls his fingers into Jason’s shirt. “Missed you. Never should have left,” he murmurs, voice cracking a little at the confession. He doesn’t even have to act for this, he realizes. This place, right here in Jason’s arms, is fucking perfect. He could stay like this forever, just being held close, but not held back.

He turns his head slowly, forcing his eyes open with some effort after they’ve somehow closed. Jason’s looking back at him, eyes a warm teal, without any hint of the brown that was in there before.

And this fits perfectly into his plan, but… it also feels so right.

Tim leans up a little, slowly, carefully pressing his lips against Jason’s.

The older man looks really confused for a moment. Then Jason closes his eyes, leaning in, his warm hands caressing Tim’s back. His lips start moving against Tim’s ever so slowly, in a complete opposite of the last time when there was suddenly a bloody tongue shoved down Tim’s throat.

Tim’s not sure how long it is, might be forever or just a few seconds, but then there is the light tug of teeth nipping at his lower lip. It’s the most amazing feeling ever, and Tim might just have made a really embarrassing noise.

No, no. This is bad. He’s losing track. He’s on a mission here.

Jason’s pulling him closer, doing the tugging thing again, this time with a hint of tongue. Tim shudders a little, mouth dropping open, and he presses closer. This time, Jason seems almost hesitant about going further, and Tim slowly drags his hands up the older man’s chest.

Just when their tongues brush, Tim’s hands are close enough to press against Jason’s throat, both at the same time and exactly on the collar mark.

Jason’s body goes stiff against his. Then the vampire pulls back, trembling badly, stifling a scream. His face is scrunched up in pain, and Tim pulls his hands back in shock.

Fuck. Did he just make things worse? Jason looks like he just made things worse. A lot worse.

Jason’s biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, then throws his head back with a shout. He drops down onto the ground, chest heaving with fast breaths, face shining with a thin layer of sweat. He doesn’t look good at all.

Tim does the only thing he can possibly do at a moment like this. Panic.

There is no way the Mage didn’t hear that scream. Tim is barely still conscious, and there are two even less conscious men lying here who he has to get out in the next few seconds, both much too heavy for him to carry.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

"Jason!" he whispers insistently, pulling up the upper body of the vampire. Jason’s eyes look dazed and out of focus and like he’s still in a lot of pain. Tim doesn’t like it, and he’s pretty sure Jason shouldn’t be moved like this, but he doesn’t have much of a choice.

"Jason. Get up. We have to get out of here," he hisses, putting as much authority into his voice as possible. Jason blinks slowly, eyes skimming the room aimlessly until they focus on Tim for a moment.

The vampire wobbles to his feet and Tim pulls the taller man’s arm over his shoulder to help Jason steady himself. The order seems to do at least a bit of good, because Jason does mostly stand on his own and follow Tim to the window he came in through.

Tim looks over his shoulder, sending one last glance at Nightwing, still lying there unconsciously.

He doesn’t want to leave Dick behind. Not with the Mage able to control him. But he doesn’t have any choice, it will be a fucking miracle if he can even get himself and Jason out.

"I’ll come back for you. I promise," he whispers, voice a little hoarse. Then he drags Jason out into the night.

~*~

Tim has absolutely no idea how he even manages to get to Jason’s safe house. He doesn’t remember much of the trip, except for pain and despair and the fear that they’ll never make it.

Jason wasn’t really awake and not really asleep, eyes glassy and out of focus the whole time. At one point, he muttered where he moved their things to, then went back to pretty much not reacting at all, just being lead by Tim.

Tim feels guilty for doing this to Jason, in this state especially, but it’s probably better than being left behind for an evil vampire mage to find. Like he did with Dick. Tim feels even more guilty for that.

Especially since… taking Dick instead of Jason with him was never really an option. And it’s not just because of how much more damage the Mage can do with Jason in his thrall, or how Tim can’t order Dick to stand up and walk with him.

He’ll go back. He promised. He’ll get Dick out of there. And as long as the Mage can influence and use Nightwing, he shouldn’t be in danger, at least. Right?

Tim feels a lot like he’s going to throw up. Or like his body might just give out on him, and he’s suddenly going to drop down on the floor, unable to get up again.

Still, he manages to drag Jason all the way to the bed. The vampire plops down on it, eyes falling shut and head lolling ot the side immediately. His breath is still there, deep and steady, so he’s only asleep.

His skin still looks sweaty and a bit pale. Maybe it’s because of all the magic fucking with Jason’s body right now. Bond. Evil vampire. Bond again. That can’t be healthy.

Tim puts a had to Jason’s forehead. The skin feels too hot and too cold all at once, but maybe that’s just how Tim feels himself.

His eyes are burning, he can hardly keep them open anymore. His stomach is revolting, his hands and legs are trembling, and Tim really wants to sleep as well.

But he can’t. He has to take care of Jason. He drags himself up, getting a cold wet cloth from the bathroom and putting it down on the vampire’s forehead. He gets Jason undressed except for the boxer shorts, pulls up the blankets, doing his best to tuck Jason in. The orange fuzzy one from their former safe house is there as well. It tugs at Tim’s heart to see it here, see that Jason actually brought the thing along, the feeling painful and good all at once.

Jason looks like he’s still in pain, but at least he’s not trembling anymore. Tim is not really sure what else to do. He’s not sure what time it is, either, and he’s lost count of how long he’s been awake by now.

Just… Just taking a nap, maybe twenty or even thirty minutes, can’t hurt, right? Jason’s not going to get worse in half an hour. And Tim can get a lot more done if he rests a little now. Just… a little bit.

He sits down on the edge of the mattress, curling up with his back to Jason’s chest. He feels cold without a blanket, but wrapping Jason into the perfect blanket burrito was quite a lot of work, so Tim is not going to just undo it for nothing. Not for just a short little nap.

He has slipped out of the Red Robin suit, not even sure anymore at what point, but the gauntlet with the alarm set in thirty minutes, to 01:49 am, is lying on the bedside table.

Just half an hour. Just a little rest.

Tim closes his eyes and is fast asleep in a matter of seconds.

~*~

01:51 am

Jason doesn’t know where the noise is coming from, but it’s pissing him off. A lot.

It’s not stopping, either, so he forces himself to crack his eyes open. He has the worst kind of headache, and this is really not helping.

The awful beeping is coming from a slim black gauntlet on his bedside table.

There are a few important questions he will have to ask later, like. Where is he? Whose gaunlet is it? How did he get here?

But he’ll get answers to those later. Right now he just wants to sleep. He stretches over Tim’s sleeping form in front of him, hitting various buttons on the damn thing until it’s quiet.

Jason sighs in relief, plopping back down. He doesn’t bother to pull his arm back, letting it rest over Tim’s shoulders. Tim isn’t wearing anything but his underwear, and his skin feels ice cold to Jason’s touch, which is unacceptable.

Shuffling out of his warm blanket cocoon takes some effort, but once he’s managed that and has Tim pulled close to his own chest, it feels even nicer.

He wraps his arms around the smaller man who’s shivering slightly, pulling the blankets close around them. December is really not the time of the year to go to sleep half naked and without a blanket. Silly Tim.

But now that they’re here together, it feels really great. Warm and nice and cozy.

With a deep yawn, Jason closes his eyes again, falling back asleep.


	21. Decmber 21st - The Day of the December Solstice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But the snow flakes are white and tiny and melting as soon as they hit the ground and it’s just… It’s nice to see it. To watch the snow with Jason next to him, wrapping an arm around Tim and pulling him close.
> 
> "It’s pretty, huh?" Jason murmurs into his hair.
> 
> "It’s gonna be cold as fuck," Tim replies, letting his head rest on Jason’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the longest yet and it has so much plot and magical nonsense. I'm a plot-newbie, so I hope you can bear with me.

00:57 am

Jason’s sleeping fantastically. He’s warm and snuggled up in blankets, and his dreams are filled by the pleasant memory of soft lips touching his. He almost wishes he would never wake up.

When he does, he keeps his eyes closed, curling into the blanket even more. It’s comfy and fuzzy and he can smell Tim, so he has to be around somewhere. Perfect. Jason really feels like staying here forever. Or at least for a two or three more hours.

He dozes off for a few more minutes, then the door is opened and someone walks in, sitting down next to him. A cool hand comes to rest on his forehead. The person has to be Tim. The scent is pretty distinct.

“‘m awake,” Jason mumbles sleepily, cracking one eye open to look over at his partner.

Tim’s face lights up in relief, and it makes Jason feel warm and fuzzy. “Thank God. I was starting to get worried.”

"Mmh," Jason hums, closing the eye again and snuggling deeper into the blankets. He doesn’t feel like getting up yet.

Unfortunately, Tim doesn’t seem to share this opinion. “Come on, Jason, you have to get up. I already overslept. We need to work, it’s already the 21st.”

"Christmas is still four days away," Jason complains, reaching for the blanket to pull it over his head, but Tim’s pulling it away instead.

"Jason, focus! The December Solstice is today! We have only 15 hours left till it starts!" Tim reminds him, and… oh. Yeah. Right. That.

"Can’t someone else stop the vampire apocalypse for us?" he mutters, but forces himself to open his eyes anyway. After all the chances of Batman or Nightwing saving their asses, _his_ in particular, are pretty slim, he’s afraid.

"I don’t think so. I… I left Nightwing behind," Tim admits, voice going quiet. Jason blinks at him.

"You did… _what_?!”

Tim sinks in on himself even more. “You were shouting when you passed out, so I had to get you out of there as fast as possible. I… There wasn’t any time to take Nighting with us as well.”

Jason groans. “You left our older brother in the clutches of an evil vampire, Tim?”

Tim nods, looking really miserable. Jason feels a little bad for being this upset, because his memories are starting to come back, and he’s actually quite impressed that Tim didn’t only escape himself, but also managed to bring Jason along.

And now he looks like he’s going to cry. Good job, Todd. Way to thank the guy who saved you from being an evil vampire’s puppet.

"Hey, hey, Tim, no. It’s alright. We’ll get him out of there," he tries to make up for his previous comment, reaching out to pull the younger man close. "Thanks for saving my mind-controlled ass, yeah?"

"Influenced," Tim corrects him, voice muffled against Jason’s chest, warm breath tickling on his skin.

"Nitpicker," Jason chuckles. "I was in so deep, god, and I didn’t even notice. Can’t believe it. And… did you, by any chance, distract me with a kiss to painfully knock me out?"

It’s only coming back to him now, and he’s not really sure if maybe he only imagined it. But Tim looks caught and guilty enough for Jason’s memory to be real. “I didn’t know it would be painful. Or knock you out. I just couldn’t think of anything else to do to get you free from his influence.”

"So the kiss _was_ just a ruse?” Jason asks, trying not to look as if his heart is being ripped out again. He’s a reasonable person. He expected an answer like this.

"It…", Tim starts, pulling away a little to be able to look at Jason. "I’m not sure? I had to distract you somehow. But it was… nice?"

"You didn’t like it the last time I kissed you," Jason reminds him, not sure where this is supposed to lead.

"You were sticking your bloody tongue down my throat," Tim huffs.

"… Did you just get a British accent?" Jason jokes, receiving a hit to the shoulder for that.

"This is not the time for bad puns, Jason!" Tim hisses, looking amused nevertheless, as he pushes Jason again. Jason pushes back, and in a matter of seconds they’re play-wrestling on the mattress.

Tim comes out on top, out of breath and grinning widely, as is Jason.

"So? What does that mean, exactly?" Jason asks, letting Tim enjoy his victory as he stays down. It’s not exactly uncomfortable like this.

As if on command, Tim’s cheeks flush and he shrugs. “I’m not sure…? Could we, like… not put a name to it? And just see where it goes?”

"Fine with me, babybird," Jason answers, a smile sneaking onto his lips. He sits up, causing Tim to slip down into his lap, and leans in to press a kiss to the smaller man’s cheek. "I promise I won’t just ‘stick my bloody tongue down your throat’ again."

"Yeah, that’s… Jason?" Tim looks down, a bit put off because Jason has just noticed that Tim’s scent is absolutely amazing and is nuzzling his throat. Despite the bandage, he can smell Tim so strongly here, and he really wants to… taste.

He groans, dropping his head onto Tim’s shoulder. “I think I’m getting hungry again,” he mutters, a bit exasperated with himself because somehow that just really ruined their special moment.

"I… okay." Tim nods over him. "Can you wait until tomorrow? I think I’ll to be at full strength tonight."

"Yeah, sure…" Jason grumbles. He wants to at least hold Tim close for a little longer, but the younger man is already pulling away, clmbing off of him and the bed.

"Come on, then. Only fifteen hours left to stop the vampire apocalypse and save Dick. We really need to work out a plan. And I’ve…" Tim’s biting his lower lip, looking away. "No, forget it. Let’s just take any possibility into consideration, yeah?"

"Okay…?" Jason answers, a bit confused as he follows Tim to the kitchen. There is definitely something Tim’s keeping from him. Something that bothers Tim a lot. Jason wonders what it is, but Tim would tell him if it was really important, right?

~*~

04:17 pm

They have only about one hour and a half left. The solstice is scheduled for 6 pm and supposed to take about two and a half hours. Tim is neither an astrologist nor a sorcerer, so he’s not really sure when exactly the Mage is going to cast his spell.

Jason and he have gathered everythings they know.

Most definitely, the Mage managing to cast his spell would be bad. Very bad, in fact, since the extinction of all vampires means Jason’s going to die. Neither of them wants Jason to die today.

Assuming that the Mage didn’t trick Jason while he worked with him, in order for the spell to work the runes need to be intact, and the ‘night stone’, as Jason dubbed it, is somehow vital for it as well.

Both Nightwing and Batman are unknown variables in all of this. The Mage is influencing both of them, making Bruce distrust them and Dick think that they’re controlled by someone else. So either one or both of them showing up and interfering with Jason’s and Tim’s plan has to be considered a possibility.

The Mage was quite happy when Jason agreed to let him use the bond magic, so they can assume that it is quite powerful, and that the Mage actually getting his hands on one or even both of them would be catastrophic.

And then there’s the tiny detail that Tim got a sort-of-prophecy about Jason dying in this attempt to stop the Mage. Despite Blood’s insistent warnings not to try to stop against this, Tim is very determined to do it anyway. No way he’s going to let that happen. But he doesn’t quite dare to tell Jason about it.

The plan is pretty easy. Hope that neither Nightwing nor Batman will show up. Destroy the runes and break or take the important stone. Stop and take out the Mage, saving Dick as well as Jason in the process.

It doesn’t sound too difficult, but Tim already has a bad feeling. Something just _has_ to go horribly wrong if it sounds as easy as that.

He’s studying the layout of the warehouse that the Mage is hiding in, when Jason nudges his shoulder softly. “Hey, Tim.”

"Hm?" Tim hums, looking up when he’s nudged again.

Jason is grinning at him, pointing at the window. “Look.”

And Tim looks. It’s already getting dark outside, and the sky is hidden behind dark gray clouds. But there’s also…

"It’s snowing," he breathes. Techincally, frozen water molecules dropping from the sky are no reason to be happy. If anything, they could somehow mess up his and Jason’s rescue attempt.

But the snow flakes are white and tiny and melting as soon as they hit the ground and it’s just… It’s nice to see it. To watch the snow with Jason next to him, wrapping an arm around Tim and pulling him close.

"It’s pretty, huh?" Jason murmurs into his hair.

"It’s gonna be cold as fuck," Tim replies, letting his head rest on Jason’s shoulder.

"Oh, wow, Tim. No need to be so romantic about it," Jason drawls, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why don’t you just enjoy it? Who knows what might go wrong later…"

"I won’t let anything go wrong," Tim whispers, half to himself and half to Jason, determined about this. He shuffles closer, closing his eyes for just a moment. "I won’t."

~*~

05:58 pm

They’re hiding in the shadows just outisde of the factory building, and amazingly enough, so far nothing has gone wrong. They have yet to enter the building, so of course there’s still much potential for that.

A lot of careful peeks through the window have shown that the Mage is standing in front of the circle in the middle of the room. The night stone Jason put upright in the flower pot is still in the centre of the circle, but now it has started to glow.

The Mage is raising his arms, lips starting to move, and Tim and Jason nod to each other one last time. This is their cue to stop whatever that deluded vampire tries.

In typical bat-fashion, they burst in through one of the windows. The Mage looks at them out of the corner of his eye, then his attention goes back to the stone. The runes start glowing under their feet, and even though Tim drags his boot over the scribbles repeatedly, they remain completely intact. Goddamn magic.

So much for the first part of their plan. The next best thing to do is take or break the stone, but when Tim looks up again, there’s a wall of soft light, almost like a forcefield, starting to glow where the circle was drawn.

"Fuck," Jason curses next to him, and Tim can’t help but nod in agreement.

"Let’s just take him out then," he moves on directly to stage three of the plan, because hey, at least the Mage himself doesn’t appear to have any kind of magical protection.

Red Robin and Red Hood approach the mumbling vampire carefully. The man doesn’t even bother to look around, and it gives Tim a bad feeling. There has to be some kind of trick to this, they’re probably walking right into a trap.

Red Hood appears to be a bit less cautious, because he walks up directly behind the vampire, drawing a gun and pressing it between the man’s shoulder blades. “I have no idea what you’re doing, but I really advise you to stop it right now.”

Tim’s standing a bit more to the side than Jason is, so he sees how the Mage’s lips curl up into a smile. His bad feeling intensifies, and he’s proven right the next second.

"Hood, stop that!" Nightwing shouts, dropping down next to them from somewhere above. Tim whips out his bo, since Jason’s still busy threatening the rather unimpressed mage.

He has to be careful, this is not how Blood said Jason would die, but Tim would prefer if they don’t even get close to that situation. Dick is obviously influenced, so hurting him is not an option. Maybe talking him down will do more good.

"Dick," he starts carefully. "Please listen to me. This guy is dangerous and you can’t trust him-"

Dick approaches him slowly, lowering the escrima sticks he’s holding as he does. “He said you’re not well, Tim. That he can help you…”

He sounds really unsure and torn about this, and it makes Tim’s heart clench. He feels even worse for leaving Dick behind now. “No, Dick, he’s lying. It’s one of his abilities, to twist people’s opinions the way he wants-“

Tim has to stop talking when Dick suddenly lunges forward in an attack, barely managing to avoid the swing that would’ve hit his shoulder otherwise. Okay, so maybe the Mage’s influence over Dick is even stronger than it was with Jason. And Tim can neither distract nor free his older brother the same way he did before.

"Bruce trusts him," Dick argues, sounding completely sure now. "He said he can help you. Please, Tim, just surrender…"

Tim shakes his head. He doesn’t want to fight Dick, but it looks like he doesn’t have much of a choice. He just needs to keep him busy until Jason has stopped the Mage…

~*~

The barrier of light around the night stone increases in brightness, as does the stone itself, and Jason doesn’t like it at all. He shoves his gun against the Mage’s back with more force, but the vampire doesn’t react, just keeping on muttering incomprehensible words.

Oh, fuck it all. Jason feels conflicted about just shooting the guy in the back, to he draws his arm back in order to hit the gun against the side of the Mage’s head. That should take him down.

Unfortunately, the vampire ducks away under the blow at the last second, not even slowing down his murmuring.

"Goddamn you, stop it!" Jason growls, shoving the gun back into its holster to attack with both fists. He can hear the beginning of a fight between Red Robin and Nightwing behind him, and he doesn’t know how long the Mage’s spell needs to be cast. So the safest way to play this is to take out the Mage as fast as possible.

But every single time he attacks, the Mage dodges. Jason narrows his eyes, punching again, kicking, even trying to just lunge himself at the other vampire, but nothing hits the target.

Without even looking at him, the Mage manages perfectly to avoid every single hit, still casting his spell. And Jason doesn’t know how long he needs to do that, but he really doesn’t want it to be finished.

The light barrier looks almost solid by now, the faint glow from before has turned into a purplish-black barrier that’s still somehow see-through.

The Mage’s chanting suddenly stops, and Jason’s blood grows cold.

But he isn’t disintegrating or anything yet, so that’s something.

"Don’t look so afraid, Jason," the Mage hums, lips twisting into a smile. "This first spell is just to collect the magical energy. The actual one comes later, by a few hours at least. You should use your time. Say goodbye to your loved one while you still can."

"Fuck you!" Jason hisses, drawing his gun again. No way he’s just going to die silently. If he actually needs to shoot the guy, he will. No second spell, no problem.

"Don’t be upset," the Mage reprimands. "I’m sorry it has to be this way for you. But I didn’t lie to you, you know. If you don’t die, you’re going to be the death of him one day-"

"Don’t talk as if you know me or him!" Jason growls angrily. "You have no right to kill me and every other vampire like this-"

"Really, Jason?" The Mage asks, his voice suddenly dripping with warmth and smoothness. It makes Jason feel weak and his hand with the gun sag down. No, this is bad, he can’t fall under this asshole’s control again-

He hears Tim whimper close behind him and whirls around at the sound.

Red Robin has stopped dead while fighting, gaze fixed onto the barrier, face terribly pale. Nightwing uses the opportunity, grazing Tim’s right shoulder with an electrified escrima.

Jason doesn’t understand what happened. What is it that suddenly terrified Tim this much?

"Don’t worry, Jason. You’ll get a chance to say goodbye before you leave. I’m not a cruel person, I don’t wish for you to lose your love like that…", the Mage says behind him, coming closer. It takes Jason a moment to get his act together and back away towards Tim.

The last time the Mage had to touch the collar mark in order to really gain influence over Jason, so this time he’s determined not to let that happen again.

The next second, another window is blown in, two people dropping into the room, and as soon as he sees them, Jason knows they’re in really deep shit now.

~*~

The fight with Nightwing is difficult, in a whole different way from other fights. Both Red Robin and his opponent are determined not to seriously hurt the other one, yet both firmly refuse to back down.

Dick is an extremely skilled fighter when he’s not playing nice too much, as Tim is reminded now. It takes all his skills to keep up, and he can’t focus on Jason and the Mage between the rapid blows they exchange.

Out of breath, they pull away from each other for just a moment. Tim uses the split second to check on Jason, he can’t let him get hurt or die-

He whimpers in terror as he looks over to the two vampires. The barrier behind them, previously a softly glowing light, is now a deep purple.

“ _Jason’s going to die from a spell gone wrong, trapped in a purple barrier. The Mage will try to use the bond’s magic power, but it doesn’t work. The strain is too much and then Jason… Well, he dies_ ,” Blood’s words echo in Tim’s head.

This… This is where Jason will die. And he’s standing right in front of the damn barrier, too, Tim can’t-

He’s so distracted that he almost misses Nightwing’s next attack. The escrima scrapes his shoulder, the electrical charge making the blow more painful and causing Tim’s left arm to feel limp.

This is bad. He can’t lose. He needs to stop Dick, stop the Mage, and most of all, he needs to make sure Jason doesn’t get trapped inside that barrier.

Nightwing starts attacking him again, and with only one arm, Tim is on the defense entirely, barely able to keep up at all.

This is really bad, he thinks to himself, but the next moment he’s reminded that things can always get worse.

A window shatters with a loud cracking noise, red dreadlocks swishing through the air as the woman’s boots screech over the floor. Her chest heaves with heavy breaths as she straightens up, raising her arms against the attacker following after her.

Tim can’t think of blocking Nightwing’s next attack, receiving a harsh kick to the side for his unattentiveness. But it’s a bit hard to focus, when there are suddenly C and Batman fighting in the room.

"The hell are you doing here?" C shouts as she sees Tim and Jason, then taking in the rest of their surroundings. "You still haven’t stopped him? Are you _crazy_?!”

Tim wants to complain that they really are trying , but then has to duck away from another punch. He needs to focus, he can’t take a lot more blows like this.

The Mage’s eerie laugh stops everyone from fighting, though.

"Perfect!" the vampire laughs, everyone’s attention focusing in on him. Tim moves back towards C and Jason, not really trusting the female vampire, but it doesn’t look like he has much of a choice for now. With the Mage able to fight and both Batman and Nightwing here, Jason and he will need all the help they can get.

"I never thought… It’s perfect! You are all three here." He smiles at their little triangle of resistance. Tim glares, C bristles and Jason… looks a bit enticed. Okay, no, Tim never thought he’d be the jealous type, but this is unacceptable.

"Stop this madness," C hisses. "Being heartbroken isn’t a good reason to wipe out our entire species."

"Oh, but I don’t have to," the Mage hums, grinning even wider. "I never thought the Batman would actually manage to find you and bring you here with your black gem, or that those two would develop a bond with a magical potential this big, but… Here you all are."

C takes a step back, looking shocked and pale all of a sudden, and Tim doesn’t like it. “You… You can’t possibly be thinking about…”, she starts, voice trembling. Oh, this can’t be good.

"What’s going on?" Tim asks. Neither Nightwing nor Batman are reacting to the Mage, but C obviously knows something and it’s bad.

"The spell he’s casting," C hisses, sounding disgusted and afraid all at once. "It has the potential to take life. But with enough magical energy at his disposal he can also… grant it."

"I can bring back my love. Sevilay…" the Mage trails off, and Tim is. For a moment he’s really confused, because how exactly is the Mage bringing his girlfriend back to life worse than killing all vampires?

"Don’t look so stupid," C hisses at Tim angrily. "That fool doesn’t know what he’s doing. Even if he sacrifices both you and Jason for the bond’s magic and uses the power of the solstice as well, he can’t really bring someone back. All we will have is an angry aberration of life, a literal evil zombie-"

"Don’t talk like that! I can bring her back, just the way she was!" the Mage yells, and Tim feels the serious need to back away.

This guy is insane. Literally insane. He just… what? He wanted to die all noble and self-sacrificing to make the world a better place, and the second he saw a chance to abandon that plan and raise an evil zombie, he grabbed it?

"I fucking hate magic," he whispers, hearing Jason’s agreeing hum behind him.

C’s gaze snaps over to the two of them. “This is not the time for jokes,” she hisses. “Nothing good ever came out of this kind of undertaking. He can’t get his hands on my gem or on you two.”

Tim’s eyes flicker to the tear-shaped, black jewel on the band around C’s throat. He never thought the small stone would be this powerful or imoprtant, but he nods.

The next second, all hell breaks loose.

Batman, Nightwing, and the Mage attack all at once, and Tim’s painfully reminded that he already took a few hits. So he sticks to dodging whenever Nightwing attacks him, hoping as all hell that Jason can hold his own against Batman.

As it turns out rather soon, however, C really wasn’t lying when she told them that she wasn’t much up for physical confrontations. It can’t have been more than two minutes when Tim hears her scream of “No!” and sees the Mage rip away the small black gem.

Shit.

He only barely avoids Nightwing’s next string of attacks, twisting away and catching a glance of Jason’s fight, which doesn’t look too good, either. Goddamnit. They can’t lose this.

The Mage is making off with C’s gem, already muttering ancient words again, but the woman uses that chance to attack Nightwing from behind while he’s focused on Tim.

"What the-?" Tim breathes as the form of his older brother suddenly crumbles, and C comes into vision. She’s breathing heavily and doesn’t look to good after the fights with Batman and the Mage.

"Little spell, knocked him out for a few minutes," she pants. "Can’t do it again, we need to get out of here-"

"But Jason!" Tim protests immediately. There is absolutely no way he will leave his partner behind.

C’s lips are curling in anger. “Don’t be stubborn! He has my gem. If he gets you and Jason, too, we’re all in for a catastrophe! The people brought back with this spell, they’re never whole. Their bodies come back, but their souls don’t. They turn into evil, soul-devouring zombies that are all but impossible to kill, and you really don’t want that to happen!”

"I’m not leaving Jason," Tim insists, straightening up again to glare back at the woman.

"Goddamn you! What part of ‘that would be a catastrophe’ are you not understanding? The monster he conjures up with this, this ‘Sevilay’ could kill thousands of people! If he only has Jason, he’s probably not even going to try-"

"He will, and it will kill Jason!" Tim hisses back. It makes sense now, Xanadu’s vision. At this point, if he believed C, he would have left. And Jason would’ve died.

"Curse you!" C screeches. "Are you really going to put his life over that of thousands of others?!"

"Yes!" Tim only realizes that he pretty much shouted, when he notices that Jason’s looking at him for a split second.

"Tim, leave!" Jason yells at him while blocking one of Batman’s punches.

Tim feels a bit miserable for full out ignoring Jason, but he does it anyway. “No way, Jason, I’ll-“

He stops when he notices the twitching of Nightwing’s fingers. And the Mage is probably not going to cast that new spell forever.

"Fuck," he hisses.

This is bad. This is all so very bad.

He needs to come up with something, something that can fix all of this mess-

The decision isn’t his, however, as he suddenly feels C’s hand on his neck and can’t move.

"I’m not letting you idiot cause the apocalypse, just because you don’t want to leave your boyfriend behind," C growls. She looks physically exhausted, even more so than before, like she’s about to faint any moment.

Tim notices how her legs start shaking as she begins to whisper foreign words. She looks paler and weaker with every second, and as soon as she stops speaking, she sags down to the ground.

"Get out of here. And sleep," she orders, voice trembling.

Nightwing is getting back to his feet behind her, and C looks half dead. Tim can hear Batman’s and Red Hood’s fight, and the Mage’s murmuring has stopped.

But he can’t do anything.

His body is moving on its own, obeying C’s command. He’s climbing out of a window, then running through the streets, getting back to Jason’s safe house. Once he’s there, his eyes are closing on their own. No matter what he does, he can’t stay awake. Everything turns black and silent as he falls asleep.

~*~

11:53 pm

Jason’s head still hurts. He was reliefed when he saw that Tim left, with a bit of magical persuasion by C, but at least Tim is safe now. Unfortunately, he let his guard down after that, and someboy took him down with a nasty blow to his head.

Jason can’t even tell anymore who it was. C was taken out, and with the Mage, Batman and Nightwing fighting against him, it was a short and pitiful battle.

C is still tied up in the corner, but Jason himself has been locked into the round forcefield around the night stone. Batman and Nightwing are probably still around somewhere. He doesn’t like it, but according to the Mage he only has to wait around half an hour more, then the second spell will be cast.

The Mage is still insistent about trying to bring his dead love back, despite all of C’s loudly voiced reasons against it.

Jason doesn’t even really care anymore. He feels awful, and either way, he’s going to die in about thirty minutes. At least Tim isn’t here to share his fate.

Of course, he should know better than to hope for anything.

He looks up, startled at the commotion that’s taking place outside of his circle.

Red Robin is back.

Skidding over the floor, raining even more glass shards everywhere, then approaching the Mage who’s lookind at Tim with just as much confusion as Jason and C are. Tim doesn’t look like he’s even going to try fighting.

"Are you not going to… play the hero?" the Mage asks, but Tim shakes his head.

His expression is grim and determined, and Jason doesn’t like it at all. “Nightwing and Batman are still around. There is no way I can beat all three of you, I’m well aware of that.”

"Why have you come here, then?" The Mage gives Tim a really suspicious look.

Tim is a sneaky bastard, so Jason can understand the vampire’s waryness. On the other hand, he’s really worried that Tim might just do something stupid.

"I’m surrendering," Tim declares, earning even more confusion. "I’m…" He takes a deep breath. "This is the best thing I can do. If you use both Jason’s and my bond magic, the chances of your spell succeeding and not creating a soul-eating zombie will increase."

"But you and your loved one are going to die. You know that," the Mage counters, apparently not buying Tim’s change of mind.

Tim shrugs. His eyes look a little shiny. “You know what it’s like to live on without the person you love. I… I don’t want that. I can’t stop you from killing Jason. So I’d rather die here, together with him.”

Jason blinks. He can’t quite believe this. Tim has to be making this up, right? This is all just part of some elaborate scheme he has. But Tim looks so… defeated. “Tim, don’t…”, Jason whispers insistently, struggling to get up so he can press his hands against the dark purple barrier.

Tim steps up to him, and the Mage lets him. “I’m sorry,” Tim mutters. He raises his hand, slowly, to press it to the opposite side of the barrier, against Jason’s. Only now Jason notices how much Tim’s body is already shaking with exhaustion. “I… I know from Blood that you’re going to die here. And I can stop the Mage, if you do, stop his spell, but… I don’t want to. Not without you.”

"Tim…", Jason mutters in astonishment. He can’t quite believe this. His eyes are burning and he might just start crying soon, but he doesn’t care. "Please don’t do this, get out of here, come on, Tim…", he almost begs, but Tim just shakes his head.

"Very well then," the Mage speaks up from behind them. "I… Thank you for your sacrifice. It means a lot to me, that you will help me bring Sevilay back. I hope you can find happiness with each other in the afterlife."

The Mage starts muttering a few words, and suddenly Tim’s hand slips through the barrier, though Jason still isn’t able to get out.

Jason feels horrible. He wants to push Tim back out, but as soon as the younger man is fully inside, the thing is impenetrable again.

Are they… really going to die here?

"You shouldn’t have…", Jason whispers, pulling Tim against his chest, holding him tight. Tim’s hands settle on his shoulders, hugging him back.

"Couldn’t leave you," Tim murmurs, tipping his head back to look up at Jason. "I just couldn’t. You’re…. too importan-"

"I love you," it breaks out of Jason. He can’t hold it back anymore. Not if they’re going to die here.

Tim looks up at him, gray-blue eyes huge and widened in surprise, cheeks flushing. “Jason…”

"Love you, Tim," he repeats, feeling a bit breathless with how fast his heart is suddenly beating. Leaning down, he brushes his lips against Tim’s.

Tim pulls him down, deepening the kiss, and Jason thinks…

He still wants for Tim to get out of here, to survive, but at the same time…

He’s happy, so happy that Tim is here with him. That in their last moments, they can have _this_.


	22. December 22nd - The Day Jason and Tim Start the Vampire Zombie Apocalypse with Gay Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mage moves back, looking shocked, but after just a few seconds he’s seemingly caught himself again. “You can’t stop me anymore!” he hisses, before starting some imoprtant sounding rambling. One of these days, Tim will look into magic spells, just to get a handle on the topic that goes beyond ‘incomprehensible words being said’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today, because I started writing at 2 am. Whoops. Time management. At least it’s not an evil cliffhanger again and the title’s not only the best one yet, but also completely accurate.  
> And there isn't any evil cliffhanger today, so yay?

00:00 am

The kiss is… _intense_.

Tim can barely keep standing with how wobbly his legs are. Though that might just be because of how exhausted he feels. And how his entire way back to the factory building was like walking against an invisible wall.

C’s plan to keep him away almost worked. Now… Well, Tim is sort of doing his own thing.

Jason must have noticed how Tim is leaning most of his weight on him now, because the vampire is carefully sinking down to the floor, pulling Tim into his lap.

Tim is faintly aware that the Mage is probably still watching them, but it’s hard to care right now.

His head is still spinning a little, maybe from C’s magic or sleep deprivation or the very amazing kiss. Or because Jason just said he loved Tim. What even.

"You really shouldn’t have come back here," Jason breathes, earnest teal watching Tim with an overwhelming amount of affection.

"Couldn’t leave you," Tim answers, because it’s the truth. "Besides, it’s kinda part of the plan," he adds then, leaning in close to whisper the words against Jason’s lips. It would be sort of counterproductive if the Mage were to hear this.

Tim can feel Jason’s shoulders tense under his hands. The vampire leans in, head at an angle that suggests he’s kissing Tim’s throat. “Babybird, are you implying that you haven’t actually just given yourself up to die with me?”

"God, Jason, of course not. That would be a _horrible_ idea,” Tim whispers into Jason’s ear, finishing the move with a soft lick against it. Not only for distraction purposes, but also in hopes that Jason will forgive him, since the vampire apparently fell for it as well.

"I’m going to _kill_ you once we get out of this mess," Jason hisses sweetly and quietly against the bit of Tim’s skin that’s peeking out above the bandage.

Leaning down, Tim stifles a slightly nervous laugh against Jason’s jawline. “You may want to wait with that until after I let you feed.”

"But then I will, babybird," Jason threatens playfully before actually kissing and then sucking just under Tim’s chin. It feels surprisingly nice, and Tim has to card his fingers through Jason’s hair to softly pull him back a little.

"Don’t distract me with make out sessions, Jay, we have yet to get out of here alive," he reminds his partner in a hushed tone of voice.

"How are we going to get out of here, then?" the question gets smeared against Tim’s ear, causing his cheeks to feel a little too hot.

Still, the ‘getting out alive’ part is kind of important, so Tim does his best to keep it together. “Remember when I came in?”

"You mean when you needlessly destroyed yet another window, even though two were already broken?"

"Yeah, that exactly. I called Blood for some advice on my way here, and as it turns out, magical ropes are quite weak against ordinary materials like glass shards."

Jason’s soft kisses are almost back at Tim’s lips now, and their eyes meet for a moment. “So your plan is that C’s going to slip her ropes and then save our asses? Isn’t that… kind of too simple?”

"I don’t know," Tim hums quietly, leaning in a little more until their breaths are mingling. "But she’s been free for almost five minutes now and the Mage has yet to notice that she disappeared."

~*~

Jason has to pull Tim into another kiss to stifle his laugh then. For just a split second, he dares to glance to the side and… There are actually just cut ropes where C has been tied up before.

God. To think that a great mage would probably be defeated by something as simple as that. Or maybe it’s _because_ of how simple it is?

"God, I love you," Jason repeats when he pulls back again, nibbling on Tim’s lower lip carefully. He’s not quite sure how much he can do with his fangs before accidentally hurting Tim, and the smaller man is already looking kind of dazed. While Jason would usually enjoy that, right now it’s not the time for things like that.

Tim makes a tiny, quiet noise, almost like a whine, when he pulls back, and Jason just has to lean back in and kiss him again. They probably _really_ should get out of here, but that’s something C has to do now, and like this they’re at least providing one hell of a distraction for the Mage. Plus, kissing Tim is really hot.

Jason would sort of like to take things further, but Tim’s Red Robin suit makes slipping a hand under Tim’s shirt outright impossible, and the bandage and high collar prevent any neck kisses. Or bites. Jason would also really like to bite. But it’s not the time for that right now, either.

They’re interrupted by the Mage’s loud shout of outrage. “Where is she?!”

Jason pulls back, sighing quietly. Looks like Tim’s little scheme has been discovered.

~*~

So much for Tim’s hopes that the Mage would only notice something is up when C somehow broke the barrier. It can’t be helped, though. At least the woman is hiding out somewhere, hopefully not just running for her own life and leaving them behind.

"Crap," he mutters against Jason’s cheek, feeling a chuckle shake through the vampire’s body at the comment.

"Really hope your plan will work out, babybird," Jason hums quietly before getting to his feet, pulling Tim up after him. Whenever this stupid barrier around them drops, they should probably better be ready to move. They still need to stop the Mage after all.

Tim can see Jason shift, closely followed by an almost inaudible crack in the air. Inaudible at least to him, as he can see both Jason and the Mage flinch as if a bomb went off.

The forcefield around them glows even brighter for a moment before it dissolves into a faint glow and then disappears. Tim takes that as his cue to pull out his collapsible bo staff, while Jason just straightens up and balls his fists. Someone must have taken most of his weapons, Tim concludes at the sight.

C drops down from a beam in the ceiling, looking pale and weakened even more so than the last time Tim saw her, but at least she somehow got them free.

The Mage moves back, looking shocked, but after just a few seconds he’s seemingly caught himself again. “You can’t stop me anymore!” he hisses, before starting some imoprtant sounding rambling. One of these days, Tim will look into magic spells, just to get a handle on the topic that goes beyond ‘incomprehensible words being said’.

"Move it, you have to stop him!" C growls at Jason and Tim. Her legs are trembling badly, so she slowly sinks down to the floor, but at the same time she still manages to look like she’s going to rip out their throats personally if they don’t comply. "If he completes that spell, he might raise god knows what!"

Tim still doesn’t trust the woman, but she’s the expert in this, so for now he’ll go along.

He and Jason attack both at once, charging at the Mage who’s still murmuring. But after just a few seconds, it becomes obvious to Tim why Jason wasn’t able to take out the other vampire before. The man is dodging every single one of their strikes. He doesn’t even look particularly challenged by it.

It makes attacking him all the more difficult, and Tim only barely avoids accidentally hitting Jason instead of the Mage a few times. Suddenly, his arm is grabbed and he’s twisted around, thrown through the air and crashing into Jason.

They both stumble back a few steps, and the Mage starts speaking louder, raising his hands and staring over to the night stone that’s beginning to glow again.

"Stop him!" C screams from behind them, sounding terrified.

Tim can only guess, but he’s pretty sure that this is the part where the Mage is almost done casting, and that it would be really bad if he finishes.

Jason’s sprinting ahead again, pulling his arm back for another punch against the Mage, but Tim is almost certain that the Mage is going to doge again. Something that can’t dodge, however…

He spins around, running over to the huge black stone in the flower pot. This is what the Mage used to collect all the magical energy with that he needs, right? If he loses that energy, he won’t be able to cast the spell and raise whoever he wants to bring back. So, Tim is going to destroy the stone, he decides.

Tim crashes is bo against the stone, using everything he has.

The world seems to fall silent at the moment of the impact. The Mage has stopped chanting. A very thin, small crack appears in the black, smooth surface of the stone. Purple rays of light are spilling out of it.

“ _No!_ " C and the Mage shout almost at the same time.

The air feels heavy around Tim and he almost can’t breathe. Time seems to be slowed down for a few moments.

The crack widens, the light becoming almost blinding.

Tim shields his eyes from the brightness, stumbling back. Everyone’s racing towards the stone, except for Jason, who looks like he’s more racing towards Tim.

Jason grabs the back of Tim’s cape, pulling him back forcefully and catching Tim in his arms, running away from the gem that’s almost completely covered in cracks by now.

The Mage and C reach the stone, pressing their hands onto it as if to seal the cracks, and Tim is starting to get the feeling that breaking it was a really bad idea.

Then sound and time come back, with an deafening crack. Heat and air and pure energy rush over Tim’s face as the stone breaks apart, light spilling everywhere. Tim and Jason are thrown forward, smashed through crumbling walls. For a second, every fiber of Tim’s being hurts, but then his vision turns black.

~*~

When Tim wakes up again, he feels sore. His mouth is dry, tasting like ash, and the air’s smelling burnt. He’s so disoriented that he needs a moment to remember what happened.

He’s partly buried under debris and rubble, his hip and right leg feel a bit squashed and he really hopes it’s not as bad as it feels right now.

He coughs, looking around. He can hardly hear or see anything, and he has no idea how long it has been since the… explosion. It must have been an explosion.

"Jason…?" he rasps out, shuffling up to his hands and knees. The ground he’s leaning on feels wet and sticky, and it takes Tim a a few moments to realize that that’s because his suit is torn badly and his blood is smeared over the stone and cement.

He straightens up, almost falling back down as he tries to take a step. “Jason?”

There’s a faint, familiarly purple glow left from him, and Tim turns around to take a look at it.

The explosion, he concludes, can’t have been too long ago, because the Mage and C are still standing there, hands held out in front of them as if they’re pressing something broken back together. Only the stone is gone, replaced by wildly swirling purple lights, and between the two vampires there’s a… shadow?

It vaguely looks like a person, intensifying and then dissolving gradually, again and again, but slowly the form of a woman becomes visible. It suddenly hits Tim that this has to be the girlfriend that the Mage wanted to raise from the dead… Sevilay.

"This better not end in a catastrophe," he mutters quietly, starting his search for Jason again but keeping an eye on the gloomy lights. He has a very, very bad feeling about this.

C already said that this spell didn’t raise people right. That they came back as evil, soul-devouring zombies. A small desaster Add to that how much they messed everything up with escaping before the Mage could really use the bond magic, and with Tim breaking the obviously very important stone…

Whatever’s happening now is probably not going to go the way it was supposed to.

"Jason…?" he calls silently again, not daring to draw attention to himself, but also getting increasingly desperate. His right leg in particular feels like it’s going to give out under him any moment, and they really should-

They really should something. Tim doesn’t know what yet, but he’s definitely not going to stay here.

C’s shrill scream, full of pain, draws Tim’s attention back to the vampires. The Mage joins C in screaming just a moment later, and it doesn’t sound good at all. They almost look like… Tim squints.

They look like they’re being pulled closer together. _Into_ Sevilay’s shadow body.

No, no. Really not good at all.

Finally, Tim spots a boot peeking out from under a piece of wall. He pushes against the rubble with all of his power, digging his feet into the torn up ruins under him, until the debris finally moves.

Jason’s lying on his stomach, bruised and bleeding from a lot of smaller wounds, sweat and dirt smeared over his face and clothes. But he’s breathing and doesn’t appear to be too heavily injured.

Tim lets out a sigh of relief. That’s all he wants for now. Jason not dead and not dying.

He leans down, pulling Jason’s arm over his shoulder. With the older man unconscious, orders are probably not going to work. Besides, Tim doesn’t know how much internal damage Jason has suffered. Getting the two of them out of here and maybe finding them some medical attention are priority for now.

He’s not completely sure about this, but… he vaguely remembers Jason shielding him with his own body. Stupid idiot. As if he’s somehow more resistent against explosions than Tim.

The screams of C and the Mage increase in volume, and Tim looks back to them, feeling a little bad for ignoring them right now.

Then, suddenly something very strange happens.

The shadow body reaches up, the purple dancing lights catching on its fingertips. With a crack like thunder, all the light rushes through the air, swirling around the dark gray body wildly before disappearing into it. C and the Mage get pulled forward with a sudden jolt, and the entire figure glows bright.

Then, when the lights goes back, only one person is left standing there. It’s a woman.

Tim would probably call her Sevilay, but there is something about her that still reminds him of the two vampires that have just disappeared.

The woman throws are head back, growling savagely, and Tim takes that as a hint that he doesn’t want to fight this person. He tightens his grip on Jason’s arm around his shoulder and starts dragging the taller- and much heavier- man away.

Whatever kind of creature this woman is, Tim is pretty sure that someone will have to stop her. But for now, he’s just glad that she doesn’t notice him as he flees with Jason in tow.

On his way back to Jason’s safe house, he’s wondering what it is that was just released into the world. Is it a zombie? A vampire? A weird merging of the two? Of three people?

He doesn’t know. But the thought of fighting that creature is already making him shiver.


	23. December 23rd - The Day a New Plan is Formed (Because Tim Kind of Shot the Old One to Hell)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We didn’t do that, right? He’s exaggerating. We didn’t actually cause the apocalypse with gay love?" he asks. This has to be some kind of stupid joke. But Tim’s taking a sudden interest in Jason’s wallpaper at that moment, which can only be interpreted one way.
> 
> Jason groans. “Goddamnit, the homophobes are going to have a field day once they find out about this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know I said I'd update every day until christmas, but unfortunately I was too lazy to pre-write everything and spending christmas with my family was unexpectedly stressfull. Sorry, sorry, but now we're going to finish this anyway. The last two chapters should be up in the next few days.  
> And a very late Merry Christmas to everyone. Maybe take this as a present for New Year's instead?

02:11 am

Broken bones.

Blood in his mouth.

Unable to breathe.

Head spinning with pain.

Every second torturous.

The door won’t open and even though he’s about to pass out, he can still see his last seconds being counted by the timer.

Mad laughter is ringing in his ears as the heat of the explosion tears through his body and his last scream is ripped from his throat, silent—

He’s screaming, and it can’t be, because he knows that this is the part where he’s dead.

His skin is wet and sticky with sweat, but not with blood. His heart is beating too fast and his breathing is too harsh, and there’s a warm body pressed to his chest. He’s clutching it, clutching the shoulders with way too much force, but it still takes him a few more moments to register that this body is Tim and that Tim’s insistently whispering into his ear.

A continuous mantra of “Everything’s alright” and “You’re safe, Jason, you’re alive” and “Please wake up” and “I’m here, Jay, please”.

A few seconds more, deep ragged breaths. They’re… He’s not dead. He’s alive. They’re somewhere, an unlit room, on a bed, in his safe house…

He’s not dead. There was an explosion, his body still feels sore and there’s the tight feeling of gauze wrapped around various places, but he’s still breathing.

Jason lightens his death grip on Tim’s shoulders, pulling the smaller man closer against his chest and curling around him. Nose buried in Tim’s hair, sucking in his scent. It drives away the smell of iron and blood and smoke and burnt flesh …

"Jason…?" Tim asks carefully, arms wrapped around Jason’s chest.

Only now he notices how badly he’s trembling. How the wetness on his face is probably not just sweat. “G… Give me-“, he chokes out. He needs more time. Just a few more seconds to process that both of them are actually still alive…

"Yeah, sure," Tim mumbles against his collarbone, starting to stroke his side gently. Just between the bandage around his chest and the one at his hip.

Jason honestly can’t tell for how much longer they’re lying like that, minutes or hours, just spent breathing and listening to their two hearts beating. At some point his panicked, barely sucked in breaths slow down and the trembling fades away.

After a few more moments Jason forces himself to open his eyes. “Okay,” he murmurs. “I’m fine.”

Nodding slightly, Tim pulls away. Just far enough that they can look at each other, with their legs still tangled. Jason really appreciates the physical contact and the warmth. “So…”, Tim starts, voice still soft and quiet. “Do I have to tell you how stupid bearing the brunt of that explosion was or do you know that yourself?”

"Fuck you, Tim. Next time I’ll use you as a living shield. A tiny, pathetic, little shield. That gonna make you happy?" Jason grumbles. His throat hurts when he’s talking.

"Very," Tim chuckles.

Jason groans, weakly slapping Tim’s arm. He doesn’t really have a lot of strength right now, and most of Tim’s body can currently pass as a mummy. “What even happened?”

"You two idiots raised the apocalypse. Or the closest thing to it one can actually manage to raise, anyway. With your affection for each other. Congratulations." Blood’s dry voice from the door startles Jason, because he didn’t hear the man approach. He turns onto his back so he can keep his eyes on Blood, even though his body is protesting the movement. Then Jason looks back over to Tim.

"We didn’t do that, right? He’s exaggerating. We didn’t actually cause the apocalypse with gay love?" he asks. This has to be some kind of stupid joke. But Tim’s taking a sudden interest in Jason’s wallpaper at that moment, which can only be interpreted one way.

Jason groans. “Goddamnit, the homophobes are going to have a field day once they find out about this…”

"They might be a bit too busy not having their souls devoured by that monster you created," Blood throws in, but Jason waves the comment off.

"Not many souls to devour from homophobes." Tim snickers against his side, but Blood doesn’t look very amused.

"A bit more seriousness might be in order. As I already explained to Tim, whatever creature it is that was formed there, it’s nothing anyone ever heard of, and it’s going to be a serious problem. You sleeping away another day did not help with this at all."

"A whole day?" Jason can’t help but ask, getting two nods in return. Oh, great. He slept through the entire catastrophe, it seems. "What even happened, exactly?"

Blood sighs, leaning against the doorway slightly. “What happened? You two uneducated amateurs caused the biggest magical catastrophe I’ve ever heard of. The Mage’s spell was already a volatile one that only brings back abominations of life. But with you two messing everything up, only giving part of your bond magic and then even destroying the night gem?

No one can say exactly what happened, but that thing the Mage brought back started its second life by grabbing all the magic close to it. Namely C and the Mage himself. Now you’ve got a weird combination of a crazy vampire mage, an even crazier vampire mage with mind-controlling powers, and a soul-devouring zombie running around Gotham. All because our dear Tim couldn’t just leave you behind.”

Blood levels a glare at Tim at that, so Jason guesses they’ve already argued about that issue. Though he doesn’t understand why. After all, Tim could hardly have known that coming back to get him would lead to this desaster, right?

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asks then.

Blood shrugs. “Hard to tell. The creature you raised will need some more time to fully orient itself in this world, but then it’s going to devour millions upon millions of souls, lots of people will die, no one can stop it, desaster after desaster, bla bla bla, the apocalypse.”

"That… doesn’t sound too good. Isn’t there anything we can do?" Sitting up is hell on his back, but Jason does it anyway. Seems like his twentyfour-hour nap already cost them a lot of precious time.

"As I said, you two managed to create a truly unique monster. Thus, there is no known method of stopping it. Batman and Nightwing are currently looking for it, but if they actually find the creature, they can call themselves lucky if they make it away alive. Our best bet of getting rid of the thing would be to use the magic of your bond, but…"

"But?" Jason raises a brow. In his opinion, Blood has no reason to look at him and Tim as depreciatory as he does.

"Well," Blood says, gesturing at the two of them. "We have a creature with tremendous magical power and the knowledge of two of the most skilled mages to ever walk this planet to go up against. On the other side there are you two; two guys with absolutely no idea about magic whatsoever, so much so that you accidentally set the apocalypse upon us. I’m pretty sure that sending the two of you into a battle which will be fought out with magic wouldn’t be a good idea."

"We can fight physically," Jason grumbles. Excuse a guy for not becoming Harry Potter on top of being a vigilante, not-soul-devouring zombie, and part-time villain.

Blood raises both brows at them. “What? You two? You can’t even stand. Tim already went against my advice and caused all of this mess. You should just stay here, maybe sort out that feeding issue before you lose your mind again. And hope we won’t all be dead in a few days.”

With that, Blood turns around and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Jason isn’t really sure if he should be offended right now or not. He can feel Tim shuffle closer, though, and that at least is very nice. He wraps his arm around Tim’s shoulder to pull the smaller man with him when he lies back down. Having Tim so close has something oddly comforting and calming about it.

"What was he talking about? What advice did you ignore?" he asks then, quietly. His eyelids feel heavy and a bit more sleep would be nice. And Tim smells so good, it makes Jason want to cuddle him forever, or maybe have a bite… Okay. So Blood probably wasn’t kidding when he said that Jason should eat soon.

On the other hand, Tim looks oddly guilty with how he’s avoiding eye contact again. Jason nudges his shoulder softly. “Hey, c’mon, tell me. I just caused the apocalypse with you, I swear I’m not going to judge.”

"Mmh", Tim hums half-heartedly. Nimble fingers start fiddling with the collar of Jason’s t-shirt. "The thing is, I kind of… Blood had this… prophecy. Sort of. A vision of the future. And as it turned out, we successfully stopped the Mage there. But you died in the process. Blood warned me that trying to change it could lead to an unimaginable catastrophe, but I-"

"You saved my ass anyway," Jason finishes the sentence, pulling Tim even closer. He’s not sure if his chest should feel this warm and fuzzy. Might be a sign he’s about to throw up. Maybe he has a concussion. He lets out a deep breath against Tim’s temple. "Thank you, Tim."

"You don’t have to thank me. This mess is on me. And if we can’t figure out a way to stop that… whatever it is, that thing might just end mankind."

"There are worse things." Jason’s voice is onyl half-sarcastic as he starts stroking Tim’s back. "Don’t worry about it too much, okay? I’m sure someone’s gonna figure something out. We’ll save the wolrd in an epic battle and a blaze of glory, just in time to get ugly sweaters for christmas. Which reminds me, do I need to get you a present now that we’ve caused the apocalypse together and I regularly drink your blood and everything? I’m not really sure how close that means we are."

Tim’s muffled snort against the side of his throat is all Jason wanted to hear. It makes him smile, too. “You slept through the entire day, Jason,” Tim reminds him. “Chistmas is in two days. Better hurry up with saving the world, then.”

"Pffh. Piece of cake," Jason snorts.

He doesn’t get another comment from Tim, so they keep on lying around in silence. After all, there isn’t much they can do at this point. Everything has turned into a magical mess, and Jason doesn’t even understand half of it. They’ll just have to rely on Blood and hope that his namesake can come up with something useful.

In the meantime, Jason can lie here and consider when it would be best to bite Tim, because now that he’s calming down, his hunger is making itself known more and more. Feeding makes him more focused and probably stronger as well, which would be good in whatever upcoming battle they could have, but at the same time it will weaken Tim considerably. And there’s no way Jason will risk Tim’s life and wellbeing like that.

It’s all made more difficult by the fact that he doesn’t know when or how this fight against the creature is going to play out.

"Hey, Tim?" he asks, quietly.

The answer is a relaxed “Hmm?” that makes Tim’s breath tickle on his skin. He wonders if Tim feels the same thing when Jason is about to feed. It’s somehow nice, and at the same time it reminds him of how vulnerable he is in this position…

"I think I’ll need to feed soon. Today, somewhen."

"Okay," Tim mumbles. He doesn’t sound like he’s going to panic about it, and that is very reassuring for Jason. "We’ll have to find the strategically best moment, so neither of us will be incapacitated when and if we fight that creature."

"Yeah, I though so, too," Jason agrees. "So what do you th-"

"I think now would be good," Tim cuts in.

Jason blinks at him. Twice. Slowly. “Tim, what is it with you and just jumping into this getting bitten thing?” he asks then, sighing heavily.

"I’m not," Tim protests, pinching Jason’s arm. "But if Blood is going to come up with anything, it’s going to take time, so let’s just get it over with now. I’ll be fine. Just keep my blood to yourself this time."

"So no kissing afterwards?" Jason gives him a lop-sided grin, which earns him another pinch.

"No kissing afterwards. Just get it over with," Tim states.

Jason hums thoughtfully. “Fine. But just for the record, I don’t like your spontaneity with this issue.”

Tim chuckles and looks quite amused instead of intimidated, and that’s reassuring enough for Jason to pull the younger man closer and take off the bandage. “At least your throat is starting to look a little better…”, he murmurs.

The bruises are still there, but the color has gone from dark purple to a light green, and the bite wounds have healed surprisingly well. So well, in fact, that Jason has to consider some kind of magically enhanced healing. Well, he won’t complain about that.

"Try not to nod off for another day afterwards, I think I already did enough of that," Jason murmurs against Tim’s throat.

"I’m pretty sure that depends on how much sedative your fangs are going to pump into me this time," Tim chuckles.

"I’ll try to keep you awake, then," Jason hums, smiling slightly as he pulls Tim closer. Brushing his lips against the bruised throat, he moves up to kiss Tim’s lips first. If he’s not allowed to kiss him after the bite, he’ll just have to do it before.

It’s short but still mindblowing, with Tim’s fingers digging into his hair and both of them a bit out of breath when they part. With a coy smile Tim tips his head back, exposing his throat. Jason has to stifle a laugh against soft skin at that, before he loses his focus to the overwhelming scent that is uniquely Tim.

He can’t help but kiss and lick the skin first, looking for the least damaged spot. There’s a relatively skin-colored bit close to Tim’s shoulder that seems quite inviting. Jason can hear Tim gasp as he grazes his teeth over the spot, can feel the younger man’s fingers tighten their grip on his hair. He licks again, hums, sucks softly in an attempt to help Tim relax, and maybe tease him a little. Okay, definitely tease him.

While his hand starts patting the small of Tim’s back again, he nibbles carefully. The taste and smell are overwhelming and he really doesn’t think he can hold back for much longer, but he also doesn’t want to hurt Tim.

With a deep breath that has his head spinning, he tries to focus on not making Tim sleepy, who know’s if that might help, before biting down harder. Digging his fangs in deep enough to draw blood takes little effort, and once the full taste hits him, he can’t help but groan.

 _This_. This completely intoxicating taste is something he’s never known before being a vampire, and humans have honestly no idea what they’re missing out on.

Humming again, he sucks harder, enjoying the full taste and the heat tingling through his body. There’s the very far-away feeling of hands on his neck, but it doesn’t really matter until he’s had enough and pulls away.

There are a few dark red drops spilling out of the wounds and he has to lick them up, but then he can think again. His surroundings slowly become important again and he looks up, into Tim’s slightly dazed eyes.

The urge to lean up and kiss those opened, panting lips is burning in his mind, but he holds back, licking the blood off his own lips instead.

"You okay?" Jason asks, giving Tim a concerned look.

Tim nods a little. “Yeah, still alive. ‘m sleepy, but not as bad as last time.”

"Okay," Jason leans in to at least kiss Tim’s cheek, then pulls him close. "Sleep then. I don’t think we’re much of a help right now. Let Blood figure it out."

"Yeah," Tim agrees, voice muffled and words already slurring together. "But think about how stupid we’ll feel when that thing devours everyone’s souls and we slept away our last days on earth."

"Can’t think of a better way to spend my last days than like this," Jason whispers, feeling like a total sap. At least Tim seems to already be asleep, so no one noticed. With a content noise and patting Tim’s back, Jason slowly nods off.

~*~

To their credit, they don’t miss out on the apocalypse by oversleeping. In fact, Tim can spend several hours after waking up feeling useless. Blood is sorting through old books written in ancient runes which Tim can’t read at all, otherwise he would try to help. So he and Jason get to spend their time trying not to annoy or hinder Blood in any way.

It’s boring and annoying and driving Tim absolutely crazy. He sort of wishes Batman or Nightwing would send a message that they found evil zombie-Sevilay, but… Well. Even if they did, he couldn’t really do anything.

His femur is fractured, as are various ribs, and Jason isn’t off too much better. Physical fighting is a big no-no, and they have already proven just how much they fuck up magical things, so…

They’re cursed to sitting around and doing nothing. What else is there to do when you have an opponent and no way of fighting them?

So Tim has no choice but to spend his time cuddling with Jason. That’s not horrible, but he’d still rather help stop that thing they unleashed.

It’s almost 11 pm when Blood finally curses viciously, spitting out the names of several deities Tim’s never heard of, with an awed look in his wide eyes.

He and Jason, whose lap he’s currently sprawled over on his back, look over at the mage. “Please tell me you just found something very good and not something very bad?” Jason asks.

Blood jumps to his feet, waving a huge book through the air wildly. The grin on his lips is equal parts delighted and insane, and it’s a little intimidating. “Something good!” he calls out, almost slapping the yellowed pages with unreadable signs into their faces. “This here! It’s an old attempt at creating telepathy that went completely awry.”

Two pairs of black eyebrows get raised. “And… how exactly is that going to help us?” Tim questions carefully. Mabe the pressure of stopping the apocalypse was just too much for Blood. Maybe the man cracked. Who knows.

"They didn’t create telepathy, you see?" Blood explains, mad grin still in place. "Instead they pulled several minds into the same mental space!"

"And that is good for us because…?" Tim prompts.

Blood takes a deep breath, smile getting even wider. “Because we can use this to link you two to the creature. You’re all connected by the bond’s magic, it should be possible. You go in, pull the three people apart again, and then we have three perfectly manageable problems to deal with.”

Tim blinks. “Isn’t that… too easy? I mean, why didn’t anyone come up with this earlier?”

"Oh, probably because it’s thousand of years old and was a failed experiment and lead to horrific deaths for everyone involved," Blood waves the question off. "But that doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m sure I can manage to give you about ten per cent survival rate, and you guys like defying the odds, right?"

"That sounds like a horrible plan," Jason mutters dryly. "Like, seriously horrible. Ninety per cent chance of horrific death doesn’t sound like it’s going to work out."

"Well," Blood gives back with a sharp smile, "if this doesn’t work out, good luck going up against the soul-devouring zombie vampire mage with your guns. I’m sure it will be very entertaining for the last two seconds of your life, before you get squashed. And maybe if you entertain that thing long enough, humanity has another week or so before the creature gathers the magic necessary to obliterate everyone. It will be fantastic."

"Alright, we get it, we’ll use the spell," Tim mutters in defeat. He can feel Jason’s arm tighten around his waist, but they have to try this. After all, they’re the ones who caused this mess. Well, Tim is, mostly.

If Jason’s sigh is any indication, the vampire knows that as well. “Fucking fine then. How long before you most probably damn our souls to death?”

With a pleased smile on his lips, Blood skims over the pages again. “About two hours, I think. Then I can link you up.”

Tim and Jason nod. Swallowing, Tim curls closer against his… partner. Magical vampire slave. Sort-of-boyfriend.

Two more hours. And then they’ll… defeat that thing in an epic battle and a blaze of glory, as Jason said, right? Ten per cent chance of survival aren’t much, of course. Jason and he are most probably going to die in there.

But they have to try. After all, they don’t really have a choice.


	24. December 24th - The Day Something Horrible Happens (More Horrible than Creating the Evil Zombie Vampire Mage, that is)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's on a graveyard. Crooked crosses, tombstones everywhere, a gloomy little chapel a bit further away, black trees with branches looking like hands, milky white fog... It's like the perfect set-up for a horror film.
> 
> Tim doesn't want to star in a real-life horror film.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we go, and only one whole year late :'D Ohmygod, I am so sorry. This took me for forever and I can't entirely blame it on too much work. But, it's two very long chapters ahead of you now, and I hope that they will conclude the story to your satisfaction. I also want to thank everyone who has been keeping up with this project despite how long it took and how messy it was at times. I definitely wouldn't have gotten my ass up and finished this without you!
> 
> With that said, Merry Christmas everyone! (Or, y'know, merry Christmas tomorrow if you're living in one of those weird countries where you need to wait until next morning to open your presents)

00:48 am 

Blood has helped himself to a salad bowl to mix the ingredients for the spell. A fucking salad bowl. Jason isn't even sure what he expected. After the sharpie incident... Really. What has magic come to? All this modern stuff ruins the mystic that used to surround the subject of magic before. 

The ingredients turn out to be just as disappointing. At first glance they are smaller shiny gems, questionably huge pointy teeth and something that looks like big black scales. Upon closer inspection, however, Jason realizes that most of the "gems" are actually simple marbles. Seriously? They're going to save the world with marbles in a salad bowl? 

"Shouldn't magic be more... magical?" he mutters quietly in complaint, absent-mindedly patting Tim's foot that's currently resting on his legs. Since Tim's thigh is fractured, the younger man decided to use Jason as a pillow to prop the leg up. 

Blood looks up from what he's doing for a moment, giving Jason a glare. "Excuse me, are you the expert on spells now? We have a limited amount of time, in case you forgot. Fate of mankind at stake and all that," the mage grumbles, before ripping off a huge piece of kitchen foil and tearing it into tiny shreds that get thrown into the salad bowl as well. 

Jason gives the mixture a wary look, as does Tim. Blood rummages around in the Target plastic bag he came back with after going 'shopping'. A bit of tomato juice gets poured into the bowl as well, followed by a trillby. 

When Blood quietly reads through the old book again and lists things like "fairy wings", "werewolf blood" and "a dwarf's beard", Jason drops his head against the back of the couch and groans. 

There is absolutely no way this is going to work. Who even came up with a spell like that? He really doubts that there was _any_ point in time at all when mages actually had access to fairies or dwarves. 

"A unicorn's horn," Blood murmurs, sticking a celery stalk into the bowl. Jason whimpers. This is what actual magic looks like nowadays? It's downright blasphemic. 

"Are you sure this is going to work with these... substitutes?" Tim asks carefully, eyeing the salad bowl with just as much suspicion as Jason does. 

The question earns him another glare from Blood. "Yes," he growls then. "If the ritual becomes too powerful, you'll end up like the last poor guys who tried this. Namely, as two additional parts for that zombie, linked for all eternity. What we want is for you to link up for a few minutes, then pull everyone back into their own lonely mind." 

"Okay..." Tim mutters. Still, he doesn't look too convinced, especially not after Blood adds tinsel to the bowl with a muttered "elf hair". 

"I really love you, Tim. In case you survive that mix and I don't, you can have my gun collection," Jason murmurs quietly against Tim's temple before kissing it softly. Since things are most likely going to go to hell, this is something he needs Tim to know. It doesn't even matter that Tim hasn't responded in kind yet. 

To be completely honest, Tim not responding is sort of tearing Jason's heart out, but... Well, Tim obviously cares about him enough to save Jason despite the catastrophe it caused. That's enough. 

"Feather of a pegasus," Blood hums, adding a ratty dark gray feather that looks like he picked it up from the street. 

Needless to say, Jason's trust in the success of this undertaking is fading steadily. His dread gets worse, however, when Blood looks up and the mage's gaze focuses on _him_. 

"Last thing we need is a vampire's venom," Blood states. Jason can see the fucker's lips twitch upwards into a smile. 

"I can't be 'venomous' on command," he gives back dryly, feeling the need to use Tim as his living shield _right now_. 

"I know," Blood answers with a slight grin, digging out a packet of sleeping pills and adding it to the mix. "I hope you appreciate the substitutes now. Just be grateful I had actual dragon's teeth and scales." 

Jason's eyes go wide at that remark and he can feel Tim leaning forward. "An actual-", he starts off, but Blood has already begun chanting a spell. That asshole. 

The man keeps murmuring on for what feels like hours. Jason crawls out from beneath Tim and gets them chips and a watch. They're about 22 minutes in when Blood stops again. Stuffing a chip into his mouth, Jason asks, "So, dragons?" 

Blood gives him a glare. "Mostly extinct," he growls, but before Jason can ask further questions about the 'mostly', Blood is waving them closer insistently. 

"Come on now," the mage mutters. "We've already lost too much time. That creature could decide any moment that it wants to start devouring souls. You two really need to get in there and get C and the Mage out." 

Nodding slightly, Jason helps Tim stand up from the couch and hobbling over to the magical salad bowl. Said bowl is starting to fume suspiciously, and Jason doesn't like it at all. Sitting down on the floor is a bit complicated, due to Tim's injury, but they manage. 

Blood nods at them. "I'll have to tap into your bond magic, then I can link you up in a shared mental space with the creature. I can't tell you how it's going to look or feel, what to expect or even how to get out. You're on your own. Still, I strongly suggest you pull the three souls apart at any cost because otherwise we're all going to die. Got it?" 

Jason and Tim nod. They're holding hands, and Jason is not entirely sure who initiated that, but right now he's really grateful for it. After all, this might be the last moments he has with Tim. 

Blood taps his fingers against the side of Jason's throat, right where the collar tattoos are, while the firm press of Tim's hand keeps Jason from biting said hand off out of reflex. Then the mage starts murmuring another spell, and Jason gives Tim an unsure look. 

Tim tries for a smile, but it doesn't turn out too convincing. "Hey," he whispers, voice trembling just the slightest bit , his hand squeezing Jason's. "Let's get this over with so we have time to get ugly Christmas sweaters?" 

Jason's own nervous smile turns a bit more real at that. He squeezes back, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Tim's lips. "Yeah," he murmurs. "Let's-" 

The sudden sensation of being yanked back by the neck rips through Jason's body. His spine feels as cold as ice, and the next second he is sucked forward into a swirling mess of colors. Pictures explode in his brain, of Tim's face in front of him, of his own face, and of a high ruined ceiling. Then, everything goes black. 

 

~*~ 

 

Tim doesn't know much, but he has a headache and he's pretty sure he doesn't like this... whatever it is. His vision is slowly coming back, but the living room of Jason's safe house is gone. In fact, everything is gone. 

"The fuck," Tim mutters to himself. 

He's standing in a forest. Tall firs all around him, and everything is covered in white snow. The firs are black; actually, everything around him looks like an old black-and-white photograph. Even Tim's own skin is a light gray. 

He's still wearing the hoodie and the sweatpants from before, but amazingly enough he's not freezing. Tim doesn't feel the cold at all, yet his breath comes out in white puffs. Looking up, the sky is a dark shade of gray, without sun or moon, stars or clouds. Tim can't possibly tell what time of day it is. 

The snow goes up to his knees, which makes walking difficult. A bit of floating in this weird mind-space would be much appreciated, Tim thinks to himself. Well, at least his thigh doesn't seem to be broken here. Wherever 'here' is, anyway. 

Then, Tim notices a tugging at his left arm. There's a thin, golden glowing chain wrapped around it, probably leading up to the tattoo on his chest. Tim is pretty sure that at the other end of this chain he will find Jason. Probably annoyed as all fuck about the fitting leash to his collar. 

Since he wouldn't know where else to go in this strange place, anyway, Tim starts following the chain. It's not easy, since the stupid thing is hidden under the snow and he has to pick it up in order to see where it's leading. He just hopes Jason is doing the same on his side. Then they can meet up and look for their opponent together in this weird winter-wonderland. 

Well, at least he's not cold. 

 

~*~ 

 

Tim is very cold and very much regretting his decision. 

He doesn't know how much later it is, or if time even applies to this place the same way it does to the real world, but he can say for sure that it _feels_ like he's been walking through the snow for hours now, and there is no end of the forest or any sign of Jason in sight. 

He's had a lot of time to think about what they're going to do against the creature, while the golden chain keeps slipping through his hands. Are they going to fight it? Do they have to kill it? Maybe each grab a hand and then pull into different directions? 

At this point, Tim wouldn't even be surprised anymore. Dealing with magic is nothing like he imagined it would be. And he certainly didn't expect this winter forest, but... Well. It's not like he can change anything about the situation. 

Maybe this isn't even real. Maybe it's just a weird dream he's having because he's nervous about Blood's plan. The spell hasn't even been cast yet and Tim is just peacefully snoring on Jason's lap, while making this up in his mind. Or maybe Blood just really shouldn't have used a celery stalk and tinsel instead of the actual things. 

Who knows. 

Tim sighs deeply. He will probably have to come to terms with the fact that he can't possibly predict or expect what's going to happen next anymore. 

He's proven right a bit later, when he arrives at a clearing in the forest, the first one yet. In the middle of it, there's the upper part of the Wayne Enterprise building. _Only_ the upper part of it, looking like someone ripped it straight off of the rest and then put it here in the forest. It's as monochrome as everything else around him, sticking in the snow and leaning a bit to the right. Just above the snow, there are the usual letters of the 'WAYNE' logo, underlined with the bat symbol of all things. 

Most of the glass panes are cracked or broken, but the shards nowhere to be seen. Lights are flickering on and off in different windows, and the whole thing doesn't appear to be in top condition. 

Tim stops walking and just stares at the building for a few moments. This whole mind-link thing is starting to seriously freak him out. 

He isn't sure whether to approach the ominous ruin or not, but in the end he doesn't have much of a choice; the golden chain is wrapped around the bat's pointy ears, then leads inside through a cracked window. 

Tim swallows as he climbs over the bat and then the 'Y' and the 'A' in order to follow the chain further. The rooms and hallways inside are partly clean, partly burnt as if there was a fire in the building. 

Following the chain, he walks to his own office. The bad state of the door wouldn't be as unsettling in this building, if it wasn't for the obvious claw marks in the dark gray wood. Tim really wishes he'd thought of bringing along weapons. 

He never asked, but... Is it possible for him to die in here? That's how it usually works in movies, isn't it? If your mind or soul dies in some weird other plain of existence, your actual body dies as well. 

Dreading whatever he might find, Tim opens the door only to be faced with- 

C. 

Black and white and gray as everything else, the black tattoo on the right side of her face a stark contrast to her sharp white teeth as she looks at Tim from where she's sitting on the chair at his desk, fingers playing with the golden chain. 

"Stop dawdling, you love-sick idiot. You need to pull me out," she says before turning into smoke. 

Tim blinks. 

His chair is empty, the chain lying on the desk. 

Is he starting to hallucinate now? Or has C actually just been here? 

He shudders, not sure if it's from the cold still clinging to his body or not. He has a growing feeling that he really doesn't get the rules of this place. But at least _"pull me out"_ is a pretty clear instruction what he should do, right? That's a start. 

The chain leads out of the window again, and Tim follows. He's on the other side of the building now, and there's a thin path trampled into the snow. The chain is lying on it, its golden shine still the only color in this place. 

Following the path gives Tim a bad feeling, especially when it starts to get wider. He isn't sure how long he's walking, but when he arrives at the elevator cab at the end of it, he's really starting to question this undertaking. 

What the hell is an elevator cab doing in a forest? 

Needless to say, stepping into the thing seems like a really bad idea. However, the path he's been walking on doesn't continue behind the cab, and the chain almost seems to pull him between the doors, beneath which it disappears. 

With a deep sigh, Tim gives in. The doors close behind him with a high ping. Instead of numbers for floors, the elevator has three buttons. Next to the lowest one there is 'Red Robin' written in Tim's scribble, the 'o' and 'b' so close together that it might just as well be 'Red Rdoin'. It's what always happens when Tim writes in a hurry, and this is definitely his writing. 

The button in the middle is labeled with 'Red Hood'. Tim knows Jason's writing, and the way the 'e' is leaning to the side, almost into the 'R', is definitely Jason's. 

Above Jason's button is the last one. Sharp letters spell out 'Sevilay/ Eugene/ Cornelia'. All three are in exactly the same style of writing, which has to mean they're from the same person. Tim is glad that he doesn't have to focus on that detail, since now he can think about the Mage's name being 'Eugene' instead. 

Before Tim can even press a button, the elevator cab suddenly starts moving upward. That is unsettling, but Tim only really starts panicking when the cab doesn't stop on the 'Red Hood' floor, which is indicated by the bright letters above the door, and instead goes further up to the third. 

On 'Sevilay/ Eugene/ Cornelia', the cab comes to a stop, doors opening with another ping. 

Warily, Tim slips out of the cab, looking around. The chain continues on this floor, and Tim doesn't like it at all. Does that mean Jason is already here? Alone with the creature? 

The rest of Tim's surroundings aren't any more pleasant. He's on a graveyard. Crooked crosses, tombstones everywhere, a gloomy little chapel a bit further away, black trees with branches looking like hands, milky white fog... It's like the perfect set-up for a horror film. 

Tim doesn't want to star in a real-life horror film. 

Still, he has reason to believe that Jason is already here. Has been for god only knows how long, all alone with their supposedly almighty opponent. Tim can't just leave him here. 

The soft glow of the chain leads Tim all the way up to the chapel, where it disappears between two dark, heavy iron doors. When Tim pushes them open, they make a horrible, loud croaking noise, and Tim would worry that anyone heard it, if the other two people here wouldn't be sitting in front of him. 

The inside of the chapel is small, but pretty normal as far as monochrome Christian chapels go. Or at least Tim thinks so, he hasn't seen too many Christian places of worship from the inside. There are only four rows of seats, an altar, a few figures of saints, a high ogival ceiling; as far as Tim can tell, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Except for his vampire boyfriend, bound by ominous black smoke in the first row, and the all-powerful evil zombie lounging on the altar. 

Despite everything being gray, white, and black, this is the first time Tim can get an actual look at Sevilay, or whoever it is who's controlling that body. The right side of her face is covered by the same tattoo C had, and the eyes have the Mage's warm brown color - the only thing with actual color apart from the chain, Tim realizes - and slitted pupils. Longer canines are also a thing, as Tim can see when the creature smiles at him widely. The rest of the face and body appear to be female, but Tim can't place them which means that it all has to be Sevilay's. 

"Welcome. How nice of you to join us," Sevilay - Tim decides to go with Sevilay instead of 'creature', because this woman is beautiful and deserves more respect than that - greets him with a silky, smooth voice. The words make Tim melt inside a little, so much so that it's hard to even notice how Jason has started yelling at him to run away from the side. 

In fact, it's not just the words, or even the voice. Mostly it's the very enticing color of Sevilay's eyes that makes Tim's head spin and has him waiting patiently as the woman rises and walks over to him. 

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find your way here... But now that we're all together, you can give me your magic as well." While talking, Sevilay's hand strokes over Tim's cheek. Tim finds himself nodding along, too focused on how nice and dizzy the touch makes him feel. 

Sevilay's smile gets even wider, teeth glinting despite the lack of light. Her other hand moves to Tim's chest, over the bond mark, and he can't find it in himself to protest. 

Suddenly, it feels like his spine is pulled forward, cold, hard and unforgiving. Tim still can't move with those beautiful brown eyes in front of him, even as the pain tears through his body. A very tiny part of his mind insists that just letting this happen is a horrible idea and that he should do something, but... 

"That's it, hold still..." Sevilay hums, and that is all Tim can think of doing. 

 

~*~ 

 

"Again, Tim? Falling for the same fucking trick _again_?!" Jason shouts with annoyance. Out of all of Tim's rescue attempts, this is definitely the worst. Including the time that resulted in raising a soul-devouring zombie. 

He has to admit that, yes, he's only sitting here bound because he fell for Sevilay's tricks, too, but... still. Tim could do better. Tim could at least _react_ to Jason's insistent shouts of "Run the hell away, you idiot!" 

But, no, let's just stand there like a fucking statue while the evil zombie sucks out your life force or magic or whatever. Wonderful plan, Tim. How that kid ever managed to become Robin and not die is just beyond Jason. 

"Tim!" he tries again, only to be ignored yet another time. God, this is frustrating. He can't move or wiggle out of the bonds holding him. Which is even more frustrating, because Jason has never before expected to be stopped by black _smoke_. 

Curse magic. Once they've survived this, he's never going to come anywhere near that shit again. 

There's a tug at his throat when Sevilay places her other hand over the mark on Tim's chest. It's painful even for Jason by now, and he really wishes Tim would just snap out of it and _do something_. 

Jason's entire body is trembling with the urge to help Tim. He can't tell how much of it is his conscious decision and how much it's the bond telling him to protect his master, but at this point... as long as he can just do it, he doesn't care why. 

Sevilay closes her hand around the chain on Tim's arm with a vicious smirk, and this time the tug Jason feels is much more painful than before. Tim's whimper is ringing in his ears, and it makes his head swim with rage. 

God _fucking_ damnit, he needs to get out of here. 

At least the bond seems to agree with him; the chain's glow suddenly intensifies, causing heat to surge through Jason's body. He feels... stronger, somehow. 

The next attempt at breaking free from his bounds has the smoke dissipating, and Jason is up on his feet immediately. 

He grabs Tim at the shoulders and yanks him back, away from Sevilay. Tim's gaze looks unfocused and out of it, and Jason doesn't like it at all. 

"Tim," he hisses, shaking the smaller man's body. He lets his gaze flicker over to Sevilay for a second. The... - vampire? Zombie? - zombie vampire bares her teeth at him, moving closer in an attempt to grab them. Grab _Tim_ , and Jason won't have that, so he punches her in the face. 

The woman staggers back, surprise mixed into her pained expression, but Jason can't focus on it for too long because Tim is still a limp useless noodle in his arms. 

"Timmy. C'mon, this is a really bad time to be mind-controlled," he tries, but Tim's eyes just won't focus on him. 

Jason sighs deeply to himself. Throwing a short glace over at Sevilay to make sure they have a few seconds, he leans in. Sneaking his hands under Tim's loose shirt is something he's wanted to do for quite some time now, though he never expected that it would happen under circumstances like these. 

Tim's chest feels warm and firm and _nice_ nevertheless. Jason can feel the smaller man's heartbeat when he puts his hand over the tattoo on Tim's chest, hoping that it will sever the hold Sevilay has over Tim just like back when Tim touched the mark on his throat. At the first contact, a wave of heat sweeps over him. 

Disoriented for a few seconds, he barely manages to dodge Sevilay's next attack, pulling Tim out of the woman's reach once more. 

"The hell- No, don't tell me I fell for it again?" Tim's annoyed voice pipes up from between Jason's arms, causing him to chuckle. 

"You did. At a very inopportune time, I might add," Jason answers with a grin, letting go of Tim when the vampire attacks again. Not being grabbed isn't easy in the small chapel, since there isn't much room to move into any direction. 

"You should have just let me take you," Sevilay hisses, anger written all over her face and teeth bared. 

Jason bares his own fangs in turn. "Yeah? So you can gobble us up and we can be dead together? I don't fucking think so." 

With another growl Sevilay moves in for an attack that Jason dodges. The woman is fast, vampire-fast, and it takes all of his attention to avoid her in the narrow space. But she's fully focused on _him_ , and that's all he wants. Because Tim is using this opportunity to sneak up on her from behind. 

Jason has to admit, he has no idea how they're going to separate C and the Mage from Sevilay. But Tim looks like he has a plan, at least a little more so than he does- 

He's interrupted in his thoughts when he trips over a step behind him. Seeing as he spent quite some time being a hostage in this place, Jason has had a lot of time to memorize the layout of the chapel. And he's pretty sure that this step _wasn't_ there before. 

He gets his answer a second later, when Sevilay has used his stumble to press him back against the altar with way too much strength. "You can't beat me here," she hums, a victorious grin showing off sharp fangs. "This is my mind. I'm in control here." 

"Your mind looks like a graveyard? I'd really talk to someone if I was you," Jason quips, grinning back provocatively. He struggles against her grip enough to make it believable, but doesn't throw her off. 

Tim is sneaking up behind Sevilay, careful that his steps won't echo in the silence of the chapel. Jason has never been so grateful that people don't see how dangerous Tim can be due to his small, slender build. 

Sevilay's eyes widen in shock and realization as Jason suddenly moves forward to grab her arms and hold on. "No-", she starts, her voice catching in her throat as she turns around just enough to see Tim behind her. 

 

~*~ 

 

With grim determination, Tim reaches forward. 

' _Pull me out_ ', C said. Well, Tim is going to _try_. 

Instead of touching Sevilay's back, his hand slips straight into her body, causing a prickling sensation to crawl over his arm. He reaches inside much further than should be physically possible - hell, nothing has been physically possible for quite a while now - and something grabs his hand, not letting go. Tim isn't exactly sure which of these two things creeps him out more, the reaching inside part or the hand, since all of it happens in rapid succession. 

Still, with a deep breath he steadies his stance and pulls back. 

"What are you doing?!" Sevilay hisses, sounding panicked and in pain. She doesn't seem to struggle much, at least not that Tim can see it, and for a split second he wonders if that's maybe because he has his arm inside of her back. Then he focuses on getting said arm back out, because whatever grabbed it in there doesn't seem willing to let go again. 

It's hard to find purchase on the sleek stone under his feet and he loses his footing when he takes a step back. For one terrifying moment thinks he's going to be sucked into Sevilay as well, which honestly would be so very counterproductive to this whole saving-the-world plan, but thankfully, he manages to steady himself. He takes a step back and then another, all the while slowly pulling his arm back out. 

His elbow reappears out of Sevilay's back, then his forearm, one dark gray hand clutching it like a life line just above his wrist. He grabs it with his free hand as well, taking another step back and barely hearing Sevilay's howl, too focused on the rather macabre image of C's upper body slowly being dragged out of the other woman's back, a scowl already in place. 

"Could you possibly have taken any longer to get here? Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to send that message to you? Or how utterly _unpleasant_ it is inside of a zombie with only a delusional idiot as company?" C hisses, and Tim would like to snap back that this mess is hardly his fault, except that most of it kind of is. He pulls further away and a moment later C grunts, a hand pushing against her face, the respective face of the Mage appearing just a moment later. 

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" He growls, trying to wind his way out of the arm C has tightly wrapped around his upper body, pulling him out after her. His complaining earns him a kick to the shin from C and a very annoyed glare from Tim. 

A moment later, he finally manages to pull both vampires out fully, resulting in both of them to suddenly stumble forward once they lose contact to Sevilay and tumbling to the ground, on top of him. Tim can't even tell whose elbow it is that is all of a sudden pushed into his ribs, and he doesn't much care for it so long as both of those horribly heavy people will just get off of him soon. 

But before he can complain, he hears a enraged snarl coming from Sevilay, immediately followed by a grunt from Jason and a loud crash, which can only mean that now that there are no longer people being pulled out of her, she is fighting back again. 

He hurries to scramble out from under the other two vampires who seem to still be slightly out of it after spending a few days inside of an evil undead creature, worried that even after accomplishing to separate the three the fight might not necessarily have gotten easier. 

"Little help here", Jason grumbles from behind a slightly demolished looking altar, bleeding from the side of his head. Sevilay is standing just a few feet away, snapping her teeth but not otherwise moving and- either Tim hit his head quite hard, or the woman is actually _blurring_. 

Things only get weirder when a moment later, Tim has to dodge a piece of ceiling dropping down almost on top of him, barely able to jump out of the way in time. 

"We have to get out of here," C says behind him, and Tim turns around halfway before he notices Sevilay moving again, pulling up his arms at the last moment to block a strike to his face, jumping back to get some distance between them. 

Strangely enough, after the one attack Sevilay stops again, standing in place and blurring slightly around the edges. 

"What the fuck is going on here, mind explaining that to us poor fools who don't know shit about magic?" Jason asks, dragging himself up and over the rubble, a few smaller pieces of the ceiling starting to fall down around him. 

"No, we can't leave, Sevilay is still-" the Mage starts, only to earn himself a hard punch to the face from C. The man slumps down to the ground, probably unconscious. 

"Fucking idiot," C hisses, inspecting her knuckles with a wince, then looking up at Tim and Jason with expectation. "Well? One of you better pick him up and carry him out of here, I'm not going to drag around his heavy ass. We-" 

Tim can see her eyes widen and focus on something behind him, whipping to the side just in time to avoid another attack from Sevilay who, again, stops right after, remaining still. 

"What the hell is going on here?" He asks as Jason steps closer through more and more dust and small pieces of the ceiling raining down on them. Jason picks up the Mage's unconscious body, looking around warily as well. 

"This place is collapsing," C starts, earning to identical gazes of _no shit, Sherlock_ from the two former Robins. With an annoyed scowl, she turns around, starting to march towards the front door of the chapel, still glaring at them over her shoulder. "I'm not just talking about the building, you idiots, but about this _entire_ place. This space represents the shared mind of me and those two asshats over there, and since you successfully separated us, that no longer exists. Its representation is going to crumble and disappear. Let me promise you one thing, you do _not_ want to be here when that happens. Horrible death is about the nicest option of what could possibly happen." 

That really doesn't sound too inviting, so Jason and Tim hurry after her. Tim has to block two more attacks of Sevilay on their way to the door, closing it behind them once they're all outside. 

"What's happening to Sevilay?" He asks as they're hurrying along a path on the graveyard. 

"Probably being dragged back to the afterlife now that she doesn't have my and that lovesick idiot's magic anymore to keep her here. That is, as long as we don't let her get out of here with us, then she would wake up again in the real world and we'd be back to our evil soul-devouring zombie problem," C answers, then stops dead in front of the elevator, raising her arms and starting to mumble words Tim can't understand. 

A purplish glowing rope ladder comes falling down from the dark cloudy sky, and Tim only slightly raises his eyebrows, at this point not even surprised anymore by the strange forms magic can take. 

There's a loud crash behind them when the chapel is quite literally ripped apart, large pieces of debris flying into all directions and clouding the graveyard in dust and rubble. 

"Fuck, move it, that's our sign to get out of here," C hisses and starts climbing the ladder as if the devil himself was on her heels. Tim wonders what has her so worried, that is until he starts climbing the ladder behind Jason who still has the Mage's body slung over his shoulder and suddenly sees a pair of eerily glowing eyes in the dust, rapidly coming closer. 

They all speed up their climbing then, none of them being all that keen on having to engage in a fight on a fucking rope ladder in thin air, but much too soon Sevilay is climbing up the ladder as well, steadily diminishing the distance between them. 

"We're almost out. She's probably going to make a last-ditch effort to get out of here as well," C calls from above Tim. 

A second later, the ladder shakes violently, the purple glow flickering for a moment before returning. 

"Ooor maybe she's just trying to destroy our way out and drag all of us to the afterlife with her. My guess is as good as yours," C adds, sounding decidedly more worried now, and that alone is enough to make chills run down Tim's spine. 

"Is there anything we can do to stop her?" Tim hears Jason ask above him. 

"Not really. We just have to get the hell out of here before she manages to disintegrate the ladder, and also not let her follow after us," is the reply he gets. " But don't worry, we're alm-" 

C's voice fades out after that, and Tim really hopes that that happened because she got out, and not because something bad happened. Before he can feel relieved, however, a lot of bad things _do_ happen. The light of the ladder flickers again, the rope itself becoming almost see-through for a moment before it returns, the glow much dimmer now. Just a second later, something grabs Tim's leg, refusing to let go, and climbing up further suddenly becomes very, very difficult. 

A moment later, Jason notices Tim not following after him anymore and looks down. Tim can make out a faintly glowing light above Jason's head, which has to be the way out C has already managed to use. He can't quite focus on that, though, not with the sudden frantic worry etched into Jason's face. 

"Tim!" the older man calls, looking conflicted for all but one second before climbing back down. 

"No, no, don't you dare!" Tim hisses, kicking at the arms holding his leg in hopes of getting free again. The light of the ropes dims more and more, and Tim has the bad feeling that in just a moment, it will be gone completely, without coming back this time. "Jason, you need to get yourself and the Mage out of here. I'm going to come after you once I've shaken her off, just-" 

"Are you trying to pull the heroic death number here, Tim? You do not get to do that, you hear me?" Jason is scowling at him as far as Tim can tell, but definitely looking worried, too. Tim can't fault him for that, because to be completely honest, he's not sure if he's going to shake the woman behind him off and make it out in time. And he also feels bad for what he's about to do, but he can't, _can't_ \- 

Can't for the life of him bear the thought of Jason staying trapped here with him, should it come to that. Or even worse, the Mage and Sevilay somehow combining again and becoming a new threat. 

"Jason, take the Mage and get out of here," Tim says, putting all the authority of an order into his voice. The golden chain connecting him and Jason glows brighter for a moment, then Jason climbs up again. Tim can see worry in the other man's face, sadness and anger and how utterly _betrayed_ he feels, being _ordered_ to do this. 

But Tim doesn't regret his decision. 

Doesn't regret it when he sees Jason disappear in the glowing light above him, doesn't regret it when he kicks against the arms holding him back. 

Doesn't regret it when he reaches out with his hand to grab the next rung of the latter only to have it disappear between his fingers, and doesn't regret it when he realizes that _all_ of the ladder is gone. 

Doesn't regret it when gravity inevitably pulls him back down, away from the light. 

 

~*~ 

 

When Jason comes to, he has the most _terrible_ headache. One that can easily take it up with the last concussion, and bad enough that it takes him a second to remember how fucking pissed he is at Tim for using the bond to order him to go ahead. He jolts up into sitting, blinking blearily and immediately regretting both actions when all those horribly bright colors are swirling around him, making him dizzy. 

It takes a moment and a lot more blinking until the feeling subsides and he can look around. He's still in his living room, Blood sitting across from him and giving him an expectant look, and Tim- 

Tim is lying on the floor next to him, cast still around his busted leg, pale but breathing and _alive_. Jason lets out a breath of relief and slumps a little, placing one hand on Tim's shoulder. He looks back up at Blood. "When is he going to wake up?" 

"Depends," Blood answers with a calm voice. "If everything goes well, he should regain consciousness just a bit after leaving your linked mental space." 

Jason's grip on Tim's shoulder tightens as all the nice, warm relief drains out of him just as fast as it appeared. He swallows. "And what if, hypothetically, he doesn't?" 

Blood hesitates for a moment, a stern frown settling over his features. "I can't say for sure. As I told you before, this whole procedure was unique and highly experimental. But if Tim's mind stays trapped in some other place, there aren't all that many options. His body could die, or he might end up brain-dead, maybe comatose, or in a state of mindless zombie-ism, though that case seems rather unlikely-" 

"It's okay, I get the picture," Jason snaps, harsher than strictly necessary. His fingers twitch nervously around the fabric of Tim's shirt, teeth digging into his lower lip until it stings. He kind of feels like shoving Tim for that asshole move of sending him ahead, leaving Tim behind without back-up - of all the horrible scenarios he imagined about Tim using the bond to force him to do something he really doesn't want, this wasn't one of them. He forces himself to let out a slow, controlled breath. 

Tim better make it out of this mess alive, so Jason can kill him for getting them into it in the first place. 

 

~*~ 

 

Watching an unconscious body lying on the ground of an abandoned warehouse for several hours is quite an unnerving thing to do. Dick has always been one to accept stake-outs as necessary, though boring tasks, but the whole ordeal doesn't really get any more relaxing when the person he and Batman are watching this time is some sort of evil undead zombie vampire that fused with two other vampires. And their job is sitting here and waiting for his two little brothers to somehow mess around in that thing's mind until everyone is un-fused again. 

They have absolutely no idea how long that is supposed to take, or what to expect if it works, or what is currently happening to Tim and Jason who are literally risking their lives to solve the problem. 

After a good four hours of waiting, Dick's nerves are worn thin, but then things happen rapidly, all at once and with surprisingly little trouble, considering the massive catastrophe Blood so vividly warned them about when he sent them here. 

From one moment to the next, the limp body in front of them starts glowing, getting blurry and extending until there's suddenly three of them. Dick recognizes C and the Mage immediately - honestly glad to see the latter one's eyes closed right now. The third person still resembles the one from before un-fusing a lot, and Dick can only conclude that this has to be Sevilay. 

He sends a glance towards Batman in question, getting a barely-there shake of his head in reply. They're supposed to only watch until the three people wake up, having been told to rely on C's magical assistance to take down the Mage and/or Sevilay, should the need arise. Blood himself could have helped with that, too, of course, but the man chose to stay back and watch over Tim's and Jason's bodies, which doesn't do much to set Dick's mind at ease about the possible fate of his two little brothers. 

A few minutes later, C stirs, sitting up and holding her head, groaning. Dick takes that as his cue to drop down from the ceiling beam he was sitting on, landing on the ground with a soft thud. He gives her a moment to reorient herself, dark eyes twinkling with recognition once she spots him. 

"Are they going to wake up, too?" He asks then, nodding towards the Mage's and Sevilay's bodies. 

C shrugs at him, slowly getting to her feet. "If they make it out in time. Quite the mess we've left behind in there." 

Dick frowns, stepping a little closer. "What about Tim and Jaso-" 

He's interrupted when the Mage moves as well, groaning and opening those dreaded, but admittedly beautiful brown eyes. Next to him, C pulls a face, muttering a string of garbled sounding words. 

"You can zip-tie him or whatever it is you people do now. Blocked the mind-warping magic in his eyes for some time," the woman mutters, straightening her back a little. Batman drops down as well, quietly and efficiently getting to that, and Dick wonders what has to be going on in Bruce's head right now, after being influenced by the Mage for so long, being made to distrust Tim and Jason. 

In the end, that is it. The Mage, as it turns out, isn't much of a threat with most of his magic blocked, though he does tear up when several minutes later zombie-Sevilay has still not woken up. Instead, her breathing slows down gradually, until at one point it comes to a halt for good. 

Part of Dick is wondering about whether or not an undead person can die - die again? Re-die? - other parts are warring about whether or not he should feel sorry for the openly grieving Mage or be relieved that the threat they were so concerned about no longer exists. But as the seconds tick by, all of that is swallowed by the need to contact Blood, confirm that Tim and Jason made it out alright, dread filling Dick at considering the possibility that they didn't. 

 

~*~ 

 

There are no words. There are many, _so many_ feelings and thoughts whirling through Jason's mind, making his heart race, his skin feel too hot, too cold, too clammy, fingers and shoulders shaking and he can't quite tell where it's coming from. 

He thinks later, as if through a haze, when he is dragged against Dick's body, clawing at kevlar-clad shoulders and struggling and sinking down, that maybe he can't think of anything to say because deep down, beneath the overwhelming roar of anger and sadness and loss and grief, there's just a numb emptiness, slowly spreading out and swallowing up everything else. It's almost a comfort, at that point. 

He worried, when Tim didn't wake up. 

Panicked, when the other man's breathing slowed down. 

Grew cold and tried and tried and _tried_ to bring it back, bring _Tim_ back, despite knowing- 

Trembled and slumped when even after minutes, Tim's body was still unresponsive, not breathing, heart unbeating, after more and more and too many minutes. 

Growled and hissed and screamed in rage, tearing things apart, demanding that Blood save Tim, get him out, get Jason back in, anything as long as just- 

Clutching at Dick now, Dick who looks pale and torn and like he can't quite believe this - who would've thought, with the lives they lead, that it would be something like this instead of some blood-soaked battlefield, the sharp drag of a weapon, the smoking aftermath of an explosion, to take one of them. Dick looks so broken, tears slowly streaming down his face and Jason can make out Bruce out of the corner of his eye, posture so clearly speaking of the devastation the man must be feeling now, and still Jason can't help but feel like it doesn't even come close to the turmoil inside of him. The feeling of slowly breaking apart inside. 

Jason screams and pushes and cries and shakes, uncaring of what anyone sees or thinks, unwilling to take his eyes off the body, unable to calm down. 

Tim is not breathing, Tim's heart isn't beating, Tim isn't waking up. 

Tim is dead and Jason is falling apart and it feels like not enough, looking at who he's lost.


	25. December 25th - The Day After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas morning, there are more than enough people around to love this day. Jason is going to pick up the slack and loathe absolutely everything instead.

When Tim wakes up, he finds himself in Jason's apartment. The one where they were before, with Blood cooking up the ritual and Jason right next to him- except this time, he is alone. He gets up and looks around, but the place seems to be abandoned entirely. There aren't any lights on, no personal items lying around, no one to be found. If it wasn't for the fact that all the colors have returned, Tim would assume that he's still in the weird mental plane Blood sent them to. 

As it is, he is mostly sure that he's back to the normal world. Just alone. Which begs the question, where has everyone else gone to? Did they leave? How long has he been gone? And, how did he even get out of the mental space? 

Tim frowns, eyebrows scrunching together. He can remember the ladder disappearing between his fingers, remembers falling... But after that, everything is blurry. He wonders how he made it out. He must have, somehow, since he is here now. 

But that isn't the most important question, at least for now. He needs to find Jason, make sure that the other made it out alright, that everything is okay. 

He makes his way outside, shivering at the cold air. It's snowing, the streets covered in a thin sheet of muddy grayish slush, but despite the nightly hour everything is lit up with brightly shining Christmas decorations. Tim lets out a sigh of relief. He can't have been gone that long, then. He makes a mental note to chew Jason out should the other man not have waited for him for at least a few hours. 

Tim checks their previous safe house first, finding it just as abandoned as the one where he woke up, then goes on to seek out others he knows of. Eventually he concludes that, with Christmas so close and him "disappearing", Jason might have even been convinced to go to the Manor, and he heads there next. 

When he gets there, it's already early morning, the sky beginning to light up to a lighter gray and soft pink tones. Tim knocks on the front door, waiting for a minute before doing so again. They might not expect any visitors so early in the morning, but still it is a bit strange to have to wait so long for Alfred to open the door. 

After a few more minutes of waiting in the cold he sighs, getting slightly annoyed but at the same time worried. Is everyone out on patrol? Asleep? Is it Christmas morning and they're so busy opening up presents in the early hours of morning that they're not noticing him freezing his ass off out here? That would be terribly rude. 

Eventually, Tim accepts that no one's going to show up and open the door for him. That is annoying, but he would not be the first person to enter the Manor through some way other than the front door. He climbs up one of the trees closest to the house, knowing that it will lead him up to the windows to Dick's room - the main reason Dick chose that particular room when he first moved in, Tim is sure - and from where he can easily climb along the façade over to his own. 

That second part of that plan is something he never gets to. 

Once he's climbed up far enough to peek inside Dick's room, out of habit as well as to check if anyone's even in the Manor right now, he almost loses his grip on the bark. He scrambles for a moment, barely able to avoid the drop to the ground, then does a double-take, unable to believe his eyes. 

Apparently, he wasn't too far off with his assumption that everyone would be asleep, because Dick is there, lying in his bed. Except it's not just Dick, it's Jason right there with him, and neither of the two appears to be clothed. 

Tim lets out a strangled gasp, feeling an ache flaring up in his chest. Unable to stop himself, he moves closer to the window until he can hear quiet, mumbled voices. 

"-sure you're okay? Have you even slept at all?" That sounds like Dick. Tim scoots even closer, climbing off the tree and instead pressing himself against the cold wall of the Manor. 

"Fuck off. 'm fine." And that's Jason. Tim almost loses purchase again, forcing himself to let out a slow breath to calm down. There is no need to overreact. Sure, both Jason and Dick seem to be naked in Dick's bed, but there could be some other explanation- 

"Don't even, Jay. We both know you're not. Will you at least tell me if anything hurts? Things got pretty rough last ni-" 

"I said _fuck off_. I'm not gonna' break from a bit of rough sex, Dick. Don't need you to fuss over me afterwards." 

A deep sigh from Dick. A tense breath from Tim. Okay. So maybe Dick and Jason _are_ having sex- which is, admittedly, further than Tim ever got with Jason- that still doesn't have to mean anything. Tim might have accidentally tumbled into a parallel universe somehow, and it isn't _his_ Jason in there, fucking around with Dick just because Tim has been gone for a bit. Tim tightens his grip on the outer window ledge, slowly pulling himself up a bit further to peek inside again. 

Both men inside are silent, Jason lying on his side on the bed with his back to the window. Tim can make out the usual scars on the man's back, cuts, bruises, a suspicious amount of hickeys around his neck... Tim quickly forces his gaze over to Dick who's sitting next to Jason, not at all consoled when he sees the same marks there, as well as a bite mark that look entirely too much like a certain vampire fed from Dick. 

He swallows, trying to force down the immense sense of betrayal, jealousy, and hurt that have started to simmer inside his gut since he first peeked inside. Still, he can't rule out the parallel universe explanation yet. Doesn't really want to think that Jason would really just replace him like this. 

"Jay," Dick starts up again, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder, only to have it shoved away. 

"What do you want from me, Dick? You know that I'm- he's-..." Jason's voice breaks off. Dick reaches out again, this time not being pushed off, tenderly stroking Jason's shoulder. 

"We all miss him, Jay." 

They're both quiet for a while, and Tim is not sure if he should be peeking in on this any longer, the burning anger inside of him slowly being replaced by a vague sense of guilt. It's not too much of a mystery who it is that they are missing. He wonders if he would earn more outrage or joy, should he just knock against the window and make himself known now. He's just about to honestly consider doing that, or try the front door again, when Dick raises his voice once more. 

"You know, I know yesterday was hard on you. But it's been a year now, and I'm sure Tim would have wanted you to be happy, move on-" 

There are more words after that, but Tim doesn't hear them anymore. They get drowned out to a low hum in the background noise of the world. A year? That can't be. He can't have possibly been gone for that long, it's still... But no, that means that it's Christmas _again_ now? He has- He can't believe it. Gone for a year, probably disappeared or even dead for all Jason knows. Tim lets out a slow trembling breath. A whole _year_. 

That's not. He just. It's so much longer than he expected, Tim can't even be upset with Jason for hooking up with Dick as heavy guilt settles in his stomach. He really, really needs to clear things up, right now. And hope that- 

He bites his lower lip, hoping that the sharp sting will force the tears back. Jason lost him for a whole year, it would be very immature of him to be upset over losing Jason to Dick during that time. Still, the thought of returning now and suddenly being without the other man... Tim shakes, telling himself it's from the ungodly cold, climbing back down to the ground and hurrying back to the front door, banging against the hard wood and ringing the doorbell in between. 

He waits and waits, impatient and unable to properly calm down, now that he knows- 

They think he is gone, he _has_ been, for a whole year, and Jason is with Dick. 

Still nobody answers the door and he pulls his hands through his hair in frustration, feeling tears burning in his eyes. He takes a few more deep breaths, but to no avail. And why isn't anyone answering the goddamn door- 

Just as the thought flits across his mind, the door finally opens in front of him. Alfred is standing there, wrapped up in a scarf and a dark coat, and Tim lets out a relieved laugh, stepping forward to greet the older man, when- 

Alfred steps outside, right _into_ Tim. 

Tim chokes on his own breath in shock, stumbling a step back. No. No no no no no, that can't be, impossible- 

Alfred calmly closes the door, pocketing the key before turning around and making his way down the stairs, walking straight through Tim once more. 

Tim lets out a distressed noise, banging his hand against the door. No reaction. Alfred seems entirely unperturbed. Oh, no. After one more deep breath, Tim hurries after the older man. With a morbid sense of curiosity he reaches out, only to see his- perfectly solid, as far as he is concerned- hand pass right through Alfred's shoulder. 

Oh. No. _Fuck_. 

This is too much. This is entirely too much. First being gone for a year without knowing so, then Jason and Dick together, now being incorporeal- and what does that even make him? A ghost? Does he really have to accept the existence of ghosts? He knows, they've just dealt with vampires and mages and zombies, but now ghosts as well? This has to be some bad joke. Tim presses his palms against his eyes, trying to slow his breathing. This is terrible. Everything is terrible. But on the bright side, at least things can't get any worse- 

He opens his eyes again, only to see that Alfred has stopped in front of a headstone. 

One very nice, clean cut headstone made of dark granite and reading _'Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne'_. Tim sighs deeply. Of course thing can get worse. Why did he even bother to tempt fate like that? 

Alfred pulls out a small bowl of cookies, placing it in front of the headstone. Speculoos. Tim loves speculoos. Or should that be 'loved' now? The older man mumbles a few words, and it feels entirely too private to listen in, even though those words are most likely meant for him. When Alfred turns around to head back to the Manor, there is a deep sadness etched into the old man's features, making Tim feel even worse. 

He takes a deep breath, following Alfred inside. Whatever he does, he knows he needs to fix this. He has to. He just isn't really sure _how_ just yet. 

He needs to be calm about this. Look at it as if it was a case. He doesn't have the necessary expertise, but he knows people who do. He'll just have to find someone, maybe Blood or C since they were so very helpful yesterd-... Last year. And then he'll have to figure out how to communicate with them. But how is he going to do that? He can't even use a computer in his current state, for all he knows. How will he be able to... 

Tim's brows furrow in confusion. He woke up in Jason's safe house. Now he's at the Manor. It's a really, really long walk from one place to the other, and he can't remember walking that long. Or using any other mode of transportation. He just- He thought of heading from one place to the other, and without really noticing, he was suddenly there. Like a scene cut in a movie. Now, maybe if he just... 

He closes his eyes, trying to focus on finding C as much as possible, then slowly opens one to look around. He lets out a startled gasp when he finds himself in a dark house, walls barely visible behind high shelves crammed with books and all sorts of knickknack Tim can't identify. 

"I can't believe that worked..." He mutters quietly to himself, starting to look around. The whole place is a mess, but he can hear rustling coming from up a narrow staircase, following after the noise. He finds C there, in a smaller room that seems to hold just as many books, and also a couch the woman is currently sprawled out on, reading in one while two others are lying on her lap. 

Tim knocks against the doorframe, not wanting to intrude but also not sure if it's going to help, since apparently he's a ghost and people can't see or hear him. To his utter surprise, C looks up from her book, seeming a bit startled as she takes him in. Her brows scrunch up in confusion as she sits up and puts the books aside. 

"… Tim?" She asks, looking him up and down. She tilts her head to the side, still looking a bit puzzled. "Aren't you dead?" 

He shrugs helplessly. "I don't know? I might be? People can't see me. I just... teleported here or something. I think I'm some kind of ghost?" 

"You would be right about that. You're lucky I know enough magic to pick up on the presence of poor saps like you." C narrows her eyes a bit, getting up and stepping closer. She reaches out, her hand sinking through Tim's arm without neither of them feeling anything. "Yup, definitely a ghost. Very curious. How did that happen?" 

"I don't know. I was hoping to get some answers from you." 

C hums in thought, still jabbing her finger through various parts of Tim's body. "Hmm. Am I correct to assume that you didn't make it out of Blood's linked up mind space in time?" 

Tim nods, trying to bat her hand away as it sinks into his nose, only to have his own arm slip through hers. He scowls, receiving a light chuckle. 

"Well, that would explain why your body died. But not why you came back, no... I have to say, our dear Jason was very upset." 

"My body... died?" Tim is frowning even more now. He assumed that he was just gone, not that... well. 

C nods. "Yes, of course it did. As did Sevilay's. Good job on that one, by the way. And you made your boyfriend cry." 

Tim has just opened his mouth to protest that term- after all Jason and he never settled on any labels, and now Jason is sleeping with someone else- but C looks like she just had an epiphany, so he swallows his protest back down. 

"Now that I think about it, that has to be it. You two are bonded. And the bond's magic has been woven into the link up spell as well. It might be possible that your vampire boyfriend was enough of an anchor to pull your mind back out, it just took a while. But your body is dead, and in another place, so now it's just the incorporeal part of you floating around. Except you're not floating. Very disappointing." 

"I'm also not able to go through walls," Tim remarks dryly, still trying to catch up to everything else C just said. 

"You're a terrible ghost," the woman mutters, finally stopping the poking and instead settling him with a considering gaze. "So, I'm guessing that what you want now is to be physical again?" 

Tim nods. "Yes, that would be great. Preferably in my own body." 

C grins a little, a glint to her eyes that Tim is not sure he likes. "Well, I might just be able to help you with that. You better hope your family isn't big on cremation." 

 

~*~ 

 

C has a plan. Tim happens to be an expert on plans, and this particular plan sounds _terrible_ to him. Something he lets the woman know in great length and detail, but she doesn't listen and as a ghost without physical body, there isn't much else he can do to stop her. 

And that is how he ends up at the graveyard close to Wayne Manor on Christmas morning to raise his own dead body. C has packed a bag of things and then teleported herself to the grave with it, leaving it to Tim to follow her. 

"Tell me again how this isn't a horribly bad idea?" He asks, standing next to her with crossed arms. "You were quite opposed to the Mage raising Sevilay. Who's to say my body doesn't become soul-devouring zombie problem 2.0?" 

"Because," C explains, setting down her bag and pulling out a couple of batteries, a bottle of water and a sandwich, as well as a writing pad and a pen, "the problem with the whole Sevilay issue was that that idiot revived her body, but couldn't return her soul. Your soul is right here, we just need to fix up your body a little and put you back in there." 

Tim sighs, slowly resigning himself to the fact that this seems to be happening, and he has no way of stopping it. "Am I going to look the same as before? I don't want to be some gruesome half-decayed dread." 

C shrugs. "Yeah, I'm going to restore your body as much as possible. I _am_ quite grateful to you for pulling me out of that whole mess last year, you know? You're likely going to feel like shit for a few days, though. And don't underestimate how difficult it will be for your friends to get used to you being back from the dead." 

"It's fine, we deal with that quite a lot." He grins a bit at seeing C's raised eyebrow, but then the woman shrugs. 

"If you think so. Now let's get to it, it's cold as fuck out here and I'd really like to get back home." C scribbles a few patterns that look like some sort of runes to Tim onto the pad, ripping out the pages and placing them over his grave. She places the food, water and batteries there as well, then steps back and gestures for Tim to step onto one of the pages. 

Tim does so, feeling a bit apprehensive. "Are you sure this is going to work?" 

C cracks her knuckles, grinning slightly. "Sure enough. Now stay where you are, this might pinch a bit for you and your boyfriend since I'm going to tap into your bond magic." 

She starts muttering a spell and Tim is not sure if it would be worth it to interrupt her and finally make it clear that unfortunately, Jason is not his boyfriend. A moment later, something far more important occurs to him, however. "Wait, wouldn't it be better to get the coffin out of the ground firs-" 

Tim never gets any further with his sentence, the pencil scribbles under his feet beginning to glow. And then, suddenly, he's yanked down with a sickening lurch. He feels nauseous to the point of throwing up, all of a sudden enveloped by darkness. Jolting up into sitting, he hits his forehead, scrambling around in panic only to hit the back of his head, too. Something dusty is falling into his face, tasting like crap and making him cough, moving enough to hit the top of his head as well. He decides then not to move anymore. 

It's freezing cold where he is, and after the first moment of panic is over it occurs to him that 'where he is' is most likely his own coffin. Which makes sense, but still. This is not a nice place to be in. It suddenly makes _so much sense_ why Jason doesn't like being crammed into dark, narrow spaces. Tim just hopes that C is still up there and currently mumbling another spell to get him out of here. 

 

~*~ 

 

Gotham is his home and Jason loves it here. He really does. But sometimes, he honestly wants to burn the whole goddamn city down to the ground. He is still reeling from the day before, curled up under Dick's sheets and exhausted beyond belief, body aching, yet unable to fall asleep. The sun has long since started to shine into the room, and Dick with that too big heart of his has gotten up and closed the curtains so Jason can continue to lie here and hate everything. 

It's unlikely that he's going to fall asleep at this point, but he also doesn't feel like getting up. It's Christmas morning, there are more than enough people around to love this day. Jason is going to pick up the slack and loathe absolutely everything instead. 

It doesn't help that Dick keeps sticking around, keeps fussing over him, obviously worried but not making feel Jason any better. If Jason wanted to be fair, he'd have to admit that considering what happened yesterday a year ago, Dick doesn't stand a chance in hell trying to cheer him up. But Jason doesn't want to be fair right now, he mostly just wants to keep lying right where he is, and forget. 

He wonders, idly, if maybe it wouldn't feel as horrible if Tim had died on a less memorable day. One that isn't celebrated and announced two months in advance, with bright lights and songs and calendars, like the entire world is trying to burn it into Jason's mind that yes, today he can celebrate losing Tim. 

Life is such a fucking joke. 

"Jay?" Dick asks from where he's still standing at the window, looking out. 

Jason grumbles, shoving his head into the pillow a bit more forcefully than he has the two dozen times before, not sure how he can make it any clearer to Dick that he wants to be left alone. Or maybe get drunk and then fucked into the mattress again to forget what day it is, just for a bit. 

"Jay," Dick says again, and Jason grunts in annoyance, getting ready to fling the pillow across the room and at Dick's stupid head. "I think there's someone over at the graves." 

Jason is up on his feet a split second later, pushing against Dick and tangling in the curtains in an attempt to look outside without being grilled alive by the sunlight. He can definitely make out movement over at the private family graves before his nose starts to feel burned and he has to pull back. 

That is all he needs to know, though. It doesn't matter who it is or why they're there, it's about Tim's grave and Jason would never let _anyone_ mess with that place. If they aren't there to pay their respect to the guy who saved their collective asses last year and paid for it with his life, Jason is going to gut them and suck them dry. 

He pulls on a loose pair of pants and a shirt before rushing out of the room, can hear Dick's steps behind him, hurrying down the stairs and calling for him to wait. Jason snarls, turning around halfway on the steps to finally tell Dick to fuck off, when the pain hits him. 

It starts with a pull at the back of his spine, not much, but then turns into burning agony just a second later. He screams, or at least thinks he does, feeling like all air is pushed out of lungs and hot waves of pain surge through his body. Just a moment later, it's over, the tormenting heat replaced by a cold that makes him shake, only now becoming fully aware of the fact that Dick is holding him, probably keeping him from toppling down the rest of the stairs during his... whatever this was just now. 

It seems to have alerted Bruce and Alfred as well, who are both hurrying over to them, but that is not what's important at the moment. It's difficult to focus, to think clearly with the fog that has settled over his mind, but Jason is already pushing them away, trying to get back to his feet. He can't stay here, they can't make him, there is someone out there at Tim's- 

A second wave of hot blinding pain, this one less intense, less drawn out, but still far from bearable. He scrambles to his feet, swaying, almost falling over. "Leave me alone," he hisses through gritted teeth, at Dick or at least the blurry outline that resembles the other man the most, trying to push past the hands holding him back and to the front door of the Manor. 

He doesn't get far, of course, not in his current state and not with both Batman and Nightwing trying to keep him where he is, but just a moment later, that problem solves itself. The front door is pushed open, and despite his somewhat blurry vision Jason recognizes the face. 

"Nice shack you have here, I have to admit," C hums, looking around the place before her eyes settle on Jason. "Though you could, you know, do something against this damn sunlight. I thought Gotham was supposed to be all dark and gloomy. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to keep up all the spells that keep me from being fried until crisp?" 

She raises an eyebrow at him demandingly, and it's probably good that both Bruce and Dick are holding him at the moment, because otherwise he would already be trying to rip her throat out. "What the fuck are you doing here?" 

"Oh, that," she hums, grinning widely as she rubs her hands together. "I brought you guys a Christmas present. In fact, I believe you owe me now. Should I ever have to stop a vampire-related apocalypse again, I'll let you know. Until then- Merry Christmas!" 

Dragging out the last word, C smoothly turns around and walks out, right after shoving someone else inside. 

Someone quite wobbly on their feet, staggering around before dropping to the floor, then shakily raising a hand in greeting. Wide blue-gray eyes, mussed up black hair, dark circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept at all in a year. "Oh. Uh, hi." 

Tim smiles at them sheepishly, and Jason can hear Dick gasp, Bruce and Alfred as well, but his mind can't quite make sense of what he's seeing. 

It doesn't have to, though, because his body is acting on its own for him, rushing forward and wrapping his arms around Tim, pulling the smaller man tightly against his chest. He presses a few quick kisses to Tim's cheek, burying his nose in the younger man's hair and sucking in the familiar scent, a bit stale and mixed with the smell of earth and rotten wood, but at its core still the same. Still the same person. 

Still Tim. 

A choked noise of relief escapes Jason as he tries to pull Tim even closer, ignoring the burn of the sunlight on his skin until Dick tackle-hugs them both hard enough to shove them over into the shadows. 

"Please do try not to suffocate me so soon after being raised from the dead, the whole thing really wasn't so nice that I'd like to go through it a second time," Tim pipes up from between Jason and Dick. To no avail, of course, since Jason isn't going to let go of him any time soon. With Tim pressed so close, he can feel the younger man's heartbeat, and even though he still can't quite believe it, he can't bear the thought of living without that certainty right now, without feeling that Tim is alive. 

Tim came back. 

 

~*~ 

 

Jason does let go of Tim, eventually. Bruce prying him off the younger man to run a bunch of test might be a more accurate phrasing of what happened, but the end result is the same, so who cares. Bruce needs to make sure that Tim isn't some form of impostor, and Jason needs to be assured that Tim is truly back. 

The steady beeping of a heart monitor is not as good as feeling the real thing against his chest, but it's a good enough substitute while Jason is sitting on a chair next to Tim's cot in the Cave, staring at the young man as if he'd disappear if Jason so much as blinks. For all they know, Tim just might. 

Tim keeps glancing at him, too, worrying his lower lip. It makes Jason want to pull him closer again, kiss him, there and then and everywhere else, but he knows that Tim will be upset later if Jason doesn't confess to hooking up with Dick once or twice or three dozen times first. Then again, Tim will most likely be upset anyway once he hears about that. Jason sighs. 'Hey, I fucked someone else while you were dead' is really not the sentence he wants to lead with after missing Tim for a whole year. 

"I'm glad you're back," is what he says eventually, looking at Tim and not quite daring to reach out for Tim's hand. 

Tim blinks, looking a bit startled as if he was somewhere else with his thoughts. Then a tentative smile spreads over his lips and he nods. "Glad to _be_ back. I'm not- It hasn't exactly been a year, for me. One moment we were taking it up with Sevilay, and then I was suddenly back to your place. Where we went in, remember?" 

_I'd never forget the place where you died_ , Jason doesn't say. Instead he nods, raising his hand to carefully run his fingers over Tim's wrist. "Yeah, I do," he hums eventually. "It has been hard. Without you." 

Tim's smile dims a little, turning sad. He turns his hand around, letting Jason's fingers skim his palm. "I'm sorry. I didn't- I don't regret sending you ahead, but I didn't mean to hurt you." 

Jason shakes his head. "Don't. Tim, you fucking _died_. Don't apologize for dying." 

Tim chuckles, tangling his fingers with Jason's. "Fine, fine. I'm glad to be back, happy to be alive, sorry for worrying you and all that. And right now I feel like complete shit, so once Bruce is done listening to my vitals, let's go somewhere nice and cozy and cuddle?" 

"I'm sleeping with Dick," is the answer that tumbles out of Jason's mouth. 

Tim blinks at him owlishly. 

Jason blinks back, regretting everything. He could have probably phrased this better. And brought it up at a more appropriate time and place. What _would_ be the appropriate time and place to tell someone you've been sleeping with their brother while they were dead? 

"Oh," Tim mutters eventually, looking away and pulling his hand back from Jason's. His face is going blank, settling on a neutral mask that's a poor façade for the hurt underneath. "Sorry, yeah, I knew that. I saw you two when I first came back, I shouldn't have- I didn't realize that things are so serious between you two, I'm- Sorry I asked." 

Jason can feel himself gaping. "You- Tim, no, no, listen, I didn't mean- Dick and I are fucking, but it's not like that, I mean. We both missed you and he was there and from there things kind of got- I'll stop that now that you're back, of course." He reaches for Tim's hand again, not sure if the younger man is angry or hurt or something else right now. 

"So the two of you are not... dating?" Tim asks, giving him a wary glance. 

Jason shakes his head resolutely. "No, we're not." 

Tim lets out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I mean, since I was dead, it would have probably been better for you to find someone new and be happy. I wouldn't want you to be alone forever just because I'm dead. But I didn't stay dead, I came back, only you didn't know that I would, but I'm still glad you and Dick aren't an actual couple, not that you wouldn't make a very nice one, it's just that I'd really like to do that myself. Date you." 

Jason blinks at Tim in surprise. "Date me?" 

"Yes. I mean, okay. I mean-" Tim fumbles helplessly, then gives up, a light blush raising to his cheeks. Jason can't help but smile. 

"I'd really like to date you, Tim." Jason squeezes Tim's hand in his. 

Tim squeezes back, smiling and blushing even more. "That's... good. And. There's also something else. I mean, with me being dead and all, it might be a bit too early, but I was dead, so it already was too late, once, and I don't want to be late again, and-" Tim bites down on his lower lip, taking a deep breath before fixing Jason with a steady gaze, "and I want you to know that I love you." 

A moment goes by. 

Then another. 

Then Jason's mind finally reboots. A grin stretches over his lips, a warm feeling bubbling up in his chest. He feels a bit dizzy, light-headed. "Love you, too, Tim." 

Tim is smiling back at him, opening his mouth to say something no doubt incredibly romantic, but- "Thank god you finally got that out, I thought I was gonna' have to wait _forever_ for you two to make up!" 

Dick is suddenly there, crowding into Jason's space and wrapping his arms around Tim. 

"Dick, what the fuck?" Jason hisses angrily, trying to shove the older man away but only succeeding in making Dick climb onto Tim's cot, still hugging the youngest. 

Dick sticks his tongue out at Jason like the very mature adult he is. "You're not the only one who missed Timmy, do you realize that? I already called Steph and Kon and Bart and everyone else to tell them he's back, I was only waiting for you two to finish declaring your undying love for each other. God, Timmy, do not dare to die on us again, you hear me? We all missed you so much. Jason was inconsolable for months. And I was barely able to stop Steph and Kon from gutting him for dragging you into the whole vampire mess in the first place, it was terrible..." 

Tim is starting to reluctantly pat Dick's back as the older man laments on, giving Jason a sheepish smile. Jason's grin is a bit more forced. He's been here this past year, he knows that Dick has grieved as well and that this is just his way of dealing with the fact that now his third and final little brother has died and then come back to life. But still, he and Tim haven't been quite done with that "declaring their undying love for each other" yet. 

So he sits there and sulks, holding Tim's hand behind a gushing Dick's back and silently dreading the moment when everyone else will arrive and get the place even more crowded. All he wants is five minutes more of peace. Maybe plan that date with Tim. Get a kiss. God, he hasn't kissed Tim in over a year- 

"You know, it's really good to have you back, Tim," he says when Dick has finally arrived at a break in his quick-fire information of everything Tim has missed. "Everyone else's blood is _terrible_. Most people don't even want me to bite them. Everyone was just waiting around for me to starve-" 

"I let you feed on me, you ungrateful bastard," Dick cuts in, earning himself a glare from Jason who's now pointing at him. 

"Yes, and don't even get me started on _this one_. I swear to god, his blood tastes like fucking _Crocky Crunch_. It's unbelievable. I'm-" 

Jason is cut off when a streak zips past him, and suddenly Bart is clutching the side of Tim that Dick hasn't occupied yet. "Tim!It'ssogoodtohaveyoubackmandon'tdothistousKoncriedwhenheheardyoudiedandIcriedtooyoudidn'tevencall-" 

Jason can hear steps on the stairs down to the Cave, so the rest of Tim's friends seem to have arrived. He takes that as his cue to leave and give Tim some time with them, but Tim still hasn't let go of his hand. He sends the younger man a questioning glance, reading a 'stay' from Tim's lips as the speedster lets loose a constant string of words. With a sigh, Jason sits back down. He guesses he'll have to wait and sit through this now before he can finally have Tim to himself again. 

 

~*~ 

 

Jason and Tim don't get to have their date that day. 

But when Jason finally manages to pry Tim away from Dick and his friends and everyone else, and drags the younger man up to his room, he does get that kiss. And another hug. 

And later, curled up on the bed with his arms wrapped around Tim, Tim close to him and warm and _alive_ , he feels like this Christmas really was a magical day. And not only because a vampire raised the dead in their yard this morning. 

"Love you," he whispers into Tim's hair, not sure if the younger man is still awake. 

A tired grumble is his answer, warm breath tickling against his chest. "Love you, too, now lemme' sleep." 

Chuckling quietly, Jason pulls Tim even closer, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. 

A really, really magical day. Looking at the beautiful young man in his arms, probably the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I didn't kill Tim after all. Joy!
> 
> Merry Christmas to all of you, one year late and all that. A big thank you to everyone who stuck around all this time, I'm really glad that you liked it so much. It's been a pleasure writing for you =D


End file.
